Things Fall Apart
by K-yers
Summary: Terry has been surviving on her own for a while, until she meets a man on the side of the road who offers to help her get to Atlanta.
1. 1: Rick Grimes

I had been watching some sitcom on T.V when a news announcement interrupted the program and began to talk about a severe virus outbreak while showing images that sent my hair to stand up straight.

The images showed people with gray skin and white eyes attacking and eating people.

The reporter who was on the scene kept screaming, "Oh my God! Oh my God!" His screams were cut off though, when a dead person came out from the side of the screen and bit deeply into his neck. The cameraman didn't last very long either. The T.V cut itself off to a solid blue screen with words flying across the screen down at the bottom.

"Holy shit," I muttered as I read the warning, telling people to remain calm and, if they can, get to the CDC in Atlanta. Apparently there was a vaccine or a cure there that could protect people from getting infected. It sounded like a long shot, but it was either head to Atlanta or possibly get killed here in Clarksville. I quickly found my backpack I had used during college and emptied it of all the old school supplies.

I loaded the backpack with every can of food I had in my pantry. I pulled my first aid kit from underneath the sink and checked it for what was inside: band-aids, gauze, Neosporin cream, moist paper towels kept in tiny little packets, and a small bottle of disinfectant. A grim thought went through my mind as I took note of this. I had better make this last until I found more supplies. I grabbed a plastic poncho that my mom had always advised that I kept in case it rained and I stuck it into the backpack. I grabbed a handful of silverware for the meals and another set of clothes. I got dressed and grabbed my wallet and car keys before taking one last look at my apartment. I had no clue when I'd ever see this place again. But I forced down the nostalgia and locked the door behind me.

That was two months ago and I was almost to Atlanta. I had joined a group for a while, lived with them inside an apartment complex until it was taken over by Undead, which was what my group called the creatures that came back to life to eat the living. And now, I was on my own again, walking beside the road just about outside of Atlanta.

The sound of a car coming from behind me made me stop. I turned to see a cop car driving, heading right towards me. It began to slow down and I cautiously put my hand on my handgun, which had been given to me by a member of my old group. The car slowed down completely and parked right next to me. A man got out and I found myself taken aback.

Most men on the road these days looked like they had been through hell. This guy was clean-shaven and he looked like he had showered recently. I felt a small sting of jealousy at the thought of a shower, but I pushed it from my mind. The man had bright blue eyes and his hair was brown, and it had a slight curl to it. He nodded at me and put his hands up in front of him, trying to show me that he wasn't going to hurt me.

"Ma'am, I'm not gonna hurt you." He said with a thick Southern drawl. I had grown up in Michigan, so the drawls that were common down here were still hard to get used to. "My name's Rick Grimes. What's yours?"

I hesitated. It was hard to know who to trust these days, but something deep in my gut told me that this Rick guy could be trusted. I removed my hand from the gun holstered to my thigh. "Terry," I said. Rick tilted his head at the sound of my name and I rolled my eyes. "It's short for Teresa and I don't like that name. So I go by Terry."

Rick gave me a small smile and nodded. "Sounds like a good enough reason to go by something else. Are you headin' up to Atlanta?"

Once again, I hesitated. But my gut told me that Rick was good. "Yeah. I take it as you are too?" Rick nodded.

"If we're going to the same place, it makes more sense if we go together." Rick said. When I didn't say anything Rick continued. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I left you here on the side of the road. We're both goin' to the same place and with the car, we'll be able to get there faster."

I frowned as I thought about it. What Rick was saying made sense. I met his eyes and nodded. Rick nodded right back at me and got back into the driver's seat. I got into the passenger seat, feeling immediately weird for sitting in a car again. Rick began to drive. I looked over to the wheel and saw how low on gas we were. Rick saw me looking.

"I found some fuel a few miles back. But it wasn't enough." Rick said. I nodded. We drove in silence for a while, but it wasn't uncomfortable. It wasn't until the engine began to moan did we even pull over for the final time. Rick and I got out of the car and glanced around, searching for some kind of building or landmark. I spotted a house what looked like a little less than a mile away. The flat land showed me everything up until the tree line. I alerted Rick about the house and we began to walk to it.

We were in silence only for a moment before Rick started to talk. "We've been together for about a hour and we don't know a thing about each other. All we know is each other's names."

I smirked. "Well, I graduated college about a year ago, and I moved down here to Georgia just for kicks. I wanted to go to a place where no one knew me, and that's what I did."

"Where'd you live before that?" Rick asked.

"Michigan." I replied. "What about you?"

Rick smiled to himself. "So you're a Yankee? And I've lived in Georgia my whole life. I was in a coma before all this happened-I got shot in an accident. I woke up and found out that the dead were up and walking."

"That must've been horrible," I said, imaging what it must've been like for Rick to be ripped from what was normal and into this terrifying new world.

"My wife and son headed for Atlanta." Rick said. "I'm goin' after them."

I glanced over to him. "How do you know that?"

"When I went to our house, all of our photo albums were gone. Some of their clothes too. A man up there told me 'bout Atlanta and I knew that my family would head straight there." Rick said with a firm voice. I had to admire his determination, chasing after people who might not even be there.

Rick and I reached the house and we glanced at each other before we walked to the house. Rick knocked on the door and I peered through the window before I recoiled. Rick looked at me with concern. I shook my head, unable to tell him about what I saw. Rick took my spot at the window and looked through. He saw the couple with their heads blown off and he had the same reaction I did.

We walked down to where a red truck was parked, in the hopes that the keys would be inside. Rick checked the gas tank but there wasn't any left. Even if there was, we had no way of taking it all the way back to the cop car; Rick had left everything except for his bags back at the car. I sighed and looked down the road, wondering how far we had left until we reached Atlanta. Rick had disappeared behind the house.

I rubbed my hand through my hair and sat down in the bed of the truck. We still had probably ten miles before we reached Atlanta, and I knew we wouldn't be able to make it by nightfall. And who knew if there was another house along this road. How were we supposed to get to Atlanta now?

My thoughts were answered by the sound of clomping hooves heading right towards me. I turned around to see Rick riding a horse, looking really proud of himself. I let out a laugh at the sight of him.

"We can make it to Atlanta with this guy," Rick said triumphantly.

"Let me carry your pack," I said. Rick swung his giant duffle bag down to me and I put it on my back, surprised by its weight. "What's in this thing? Bricks?"

"Guns," Rick said matter-of-factly. He reached down his hand for me and helped me onto the back of the horse. I adjusted the two bags on my back and wrapped y arms around Rick right as he nudged the horse. The horse let out a high-pitched whinny and began to charge through the field and down the road. We would make it to Atlanta sooner than I had thought.


	2. 2: Atlanta

The horse finally slowed down when we reached the road leading up to Atlanta. I stared around in frightful awe. The road we were on, the one leading into the city, was completely deserted. But the road leading out of it was jam-packed with cars and trucks. Rick must've noticed because he stiffened under my grip at the sight of it.

We continued into the city as the towering buildings loomed above us. I saw a few Undead around us, but they weren't enough that we couldn't handle. Rick nudged the horse again and the horse sped up, happy to get away from the monsters behind us.

The city was completely silent. It felt like a ghost town. I frowned as we moved farther in, turning down streets. If the CDC was here, surely there would be more people. I glanced up at Rick but didn't say anything. He seemed to be struggling to hang on to that theory of his that his family was here somewhere. My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of what could only be a helicopter.

Rick glanced over his shoulder at me as we both heard the helicopter. We threw our heads back to the sky to search, and it was only a second later that Rick pointed the reflection of the helicopter on the side of a building. It disappeared from view two seconds later. Rick kicked at the horse and we began to fly down the street to follow it.

Rick turned the horse down a street just to make it stop really quick. I peered over his shoulder to see what was the hold up when I saw the enormous crow of Undead right in front of us. Rick mumbled the word "Shit" before turning the horse around and kicking it so that it would run as fast as it could. The horse obliged, but we were cut off once more Undead.

They were surrounding us. The horse reared and I slipped off of its back. I let out a loud yell right before I landed hard on my back. The duffel bag and my backpack cushioned the fall ever so slightly and I felt the straps of one of them loosen greatly.

"Terry!" Rick shouted as he jumped off of the horse. The Undead were grabbing at the horse, dragging it down. Rick hurried and scooped me up off the ground, the loose straps of the duffel bag slipping off my shoulders. Rick held onto my hand as we charged away from the horde and to a tank. "Get under it!" Rick ordered, practically shoving me underneath. He crawled after me.

I stopped short when I saw Undead begin to crawl towards us, blocking our way out. Rick moved until he was right beside me, then he saw the Undead. More were coming from behind us.

Rick flipped his body around so that he faced the bottom of the tank. He reached up and I didn't see what he was doing until the hatch was open. Rick didn't say a word until he shoved me up into the hatch. Once I was up, I turned around and pulled him up right as the Undead had reached him. We slammed the hatch closed and leaned back.

Rick and I locked eyes and I could tell that he was thinking exactly what I was thinking. "So much for a safe haven." I said. Rick nodded, looking around the tank before his eyes fell on a dead soldier that was sitting in the tank with us. I edged away from it out of instinct as Rick got closer. He started to go through the thing's pockets and I widened my eyes in horror as the corpse began to move. "Look out, Rick!" I shouted.

Rick pulled out his gun faster than I could believe and shot the Undead in the head. My hands shot up to cover my ears too late and a deafening ringing was bouncing around in my skull. My vision went blurry with the pain of having a gunshot go off in this enclosed space. By the looks of it, Rick was having the exact same luck as me. We sat there in the tank for a while holding our hands up against our ears for a while. When I found the hatch up on the roof, I didn't waste any time opening it and sticking my head out.

Undead were surrounding the tank and I saw a giant pile of them right where the horse fell. I spotted the duffel bag full of guns just behind them all. I glanced around; maybe I'd be able to dart out and grab it-

My plan was put off track as a few of the Undead saw me and began to climb the tank to get to me. I ducked back into the tank and closed the hatch.

"What's it look like out there?" Rick asked me.

"There's Undead everywhere," I said. "A few of them saw me and I had to come back in here." Rick nodded. We were just about to figure out a way out of the tank when an eruption of static from the radio. Rick and I glanced at each other right as an unknown voice spoke.

"Hey, dumbasses, yeah you two in the tank, cozy in there?"

Rick threw one look at me before practically diving right for the radio. "Whoever you are, I don't mind tellin' you I'm a little concerned in here." He said into the radio.

"You and your friend are surrounded by Walkers. I advise you two make a run for it while they're distracted with the eating." The guy on the other end said. Rick and I exchanged a disbelieving glance; surely this guy wasn't serious.

"Can you see a bag from where you're at?" Rick asked, thinking about the bag of guns I had dropped. I felt slightly guilty due to the fact that I lost our big supplies of weapons but the guy on the radio pushed the thought of the bag aside.

"Forget the bag! It's not an option!"

I took the radio from Rick as he went over to the dead soldier. "Where do we have an opening?" I asked.

The voice paused before he answered. "Right when you guys get out of the tank, head right. Run down to the alley on your left and I'll get you guys out from there."

"Thank you," I said gratefully. I made a mental note to hug this guy when we met him. He had just saved our lives. Rick and I got the few things we had together and we got right underneath the hatch. I glanced at Rick. "Are you ready?" I asked.

Rick nodded right before opening the hatch. Sunlight streamed into the tank but it was blocked out quickly when Rick took the lead in leaving the tank. Once he was out, he stood up straight and reached down to pull me out along with him. I grabbed his outstretched hands and he pulled me out of the tank with ease. We stood at the top of the tank for a second before Rick jumped down and waited for me so that we could run together.

Undead tried to grab us but we were faster. Rick and I followed the stranger's instructions into the alley and we came face to face with an Asian boy. Rick pointed his gun at the boy's face out of instinct. The boy looked alarmed and shouted, "Whoa-not dead!" He turned tailed and pelted down the alley and Rick and I bolted after him.

The guy led us to a ladder going up the side of one of the buildings and he jumped on. I got on next, keeping close to the stranger's feet. Rick was right behind me as Undead filled into the alley.

We got to the platform halfway up the building and we all gathered on it, panting and trying to catch our breath again.

"Nice moves there, Clint Eastwood." The guy said. "Are you two the new sheriffs in town? Came in to clean up the town?"

Rick huffed in amusement. "Name's Rick Grimes. You are?"

"Glenn," He said. He finally looked at me. "You a cop too?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm just here because of the CDC. But it looks like that was a pipe dream." Glenn nodded. "My name's Terry, by the way."

Glenn shook my hand. I glanced up at the rest of the ladder that we had to climb. Glenn and Rick followed my gaze and Glenn started to climb again without another word. Rick made me go ahead again and he brought up the rear. After what felt like a few minutes of climbing, we reached the top and I found myself standing over the horde of Undead.

Rick made it to the top and looked over to Glenn. "I gotta ask Glenn. Why'd you stick your neck out for us? You don't know us from Adam."

I had been thinking the same thing from the moment we met Glenn. The young man shrugged. "Call it a foolish naïve hope that if I'm ever that far up shit-creek, somebody would do the same for me. Guess that makes me an even bigger dumbass than you."

I found myself thinking that that way of thinking was brave. But Glenn shrugged again and continued to lead us across the rooftops. I remembered my promise to myself that I'd hug Glenn, and I blushed to think of it now. We made it to a staircase that led down to another alley. Four Undead were down there. Glenn led the way slowly and stopped halfway down. He pulled a radio out of his pocket and called someone.

"I'm coming in through the alley. There's four geeks out here." Glenn said quickly. We waited for only a second before two masked men in body armor came bursting through a door with bats. "C'mon!" Glenn told me and Rick and we all hurried past the men, who were beating the Undead, and we rushed inside the building.

"You idiots!" A woman screamed as Rick and I entered. She grabbed me by the front of my shirt and slammed me against a rack of clothes. I flinched when she pointed a gun and pressed it against my forehead. In response, Rick raised his own gun to the blond woman's head. "You two just killed us both!"

"Andrea, calm down!" Glenn shouted, trying to step forward to defend me and Rick. The two men with body armor entered and they removed their masks, revealing themselves to be a Hispanic man and a black man.

"Andrea, get your gun off the girl!" The Hispanic man snapped. Andrea hesitated before doing as she was told. I glared at her and rubbed the spot of my forehead that she had forced the barrel of the gun against.

The Hispanic man nodded at the pair of us. "Your gunfire just attracted Walkers from all over. We're stuck here." And to prove his point, he led us and the rest of his group (along with the black man, Glenn, and Andrea, there was a black woman there as well) to the main shopping area and we saw the horde of Undead pressed up against the glass, trying to get in at us.

"You just rang the dinner bell." Andrea snapped at us. Rick and I glanced at each other as the crowd of Undead banged each other against the glass doors.


	3. 3: The Department Store

The sound of shots were heard from overhead and the people around me cursed before running towards a bunch of stairs. Rick and I followed them, not wanting to be alone with the Undead. The group led the way to the roof where I saw a tall, white man firing a scoped rifle down on the Undead down below. He looked to be the stereotypical The black man-T-Dog, I think they said his name was-ran towards him and pulled him down from the edge.

T-Dog and the man named Morales began to chastise the man for wasting the bullets and for bringing more Undead upon us. The man scoffed.

"I don't believe it," He grumbled. "World goes to shit and I gotta take orders from a taco vendor and a nigger."

I blinked at the man's coarse language right as T-Dog attempted to take the gun from him. But the man slammed the butt of the gun into T-Dog's forehead, knocking him to he ground. Morales, Andrea, and the black woman-Jacqui-backed off as the man slammed his fist into T-Dog over and over again. I flinched at the sound of every blow. Rick on the other hand, rushed forward until he was standing behind the man.

The man spat onto T-Dog's chest and he stood up, holding his handgun now. T-Dog scrambled out from between his legs and got back to the others. "I vote for a change of leadership!" The man shouted. "I vote me! Who else?" He pointed his gun at his group as they slowly raised their hands in favor. I noticed that Jacqui held up her middle finger as she raised her hand.

Suddenly, Rick slammed the rifle butt into the man and knocked him to the ground. Rick quickly pulled out the pair of handcuffs from his belt and chained the hick to a pipe. I got closer to hear what he was saying.

"...There's _us _and the dead. We survive this by pulling together, not apart."

The man scoffed at him. "You won't shoot me; you're a cop."

"All I am anymore is a man looking for his wife and son." Rick said coolly. "Anyone who gets in the way of that is gonna lose." He rummaged through the man's pockets and pulled out a small plastic baggie of white powder-cocaine. I rolled my eyes at that bad decision; how in the hell did he plan on keeping that addiction going during the apocalypse? Rick retaliated by tossing the baggie off the roof.

"'Ey that's my stuff!" The man screamed at Rick. Rick ignored him and went over to the other side of the rooftop. Morales followed him. I walked over to the edge of the roof and looked down. The Undead horde had gotten even bigger and they were pressing themselves up against the doors to the department store. Andrea walked over to me and stood at my side.

"You and your dad don't see many of them, do you?" Andrea asked.

I blinked at her. "Rick's not my dad." I explained. Andrea nodded, looking a tad embarrassed.

"Sorry I assumed." Andrea said. I assured her that it was fine right as the man handcuffed to the roof called Andrea "sugar tits". Andrea and I turned slowly to glare at him.

The man shrugged. "We're gonna die anyway." He glanced between the both of us and I felt my stomach twist in disgust.

"I'd rather." Andrea said with her lip curled.

Rick, Morales, Glenn, Jacqui, and Andrea went downstairs to see if there was a way out from the basement. I stayed up on the roof with T-Dog as he tried to make contact with the rest of their group. I had been pacing the entire length of the roof and I walked back over to T-Dog where he sat across from the man named Merle.

"How's it going?" I asked him, feeling awkward with the silence.

"The signal up here is like Dixon's brain," T-Dog said. "Weak."

"Screw you, man." Merle said, glaring at T-Dog with a look that was practically hate. I ignored Merle and kept my gaze on T-Dog.

"What's the rest of your group like?" I asked.

T-Dog shrugged. "It's like any other, I guess. Shane's like the leader, we got some people assigned to certain jobs, it's a basic group, Yankee." I rolled my eyes at the nickname that seemed like it was going to stick. Every single person on this roof was born and raised in the South; they knew I sounded different based off my accent. And then Jacqui had figured out it was Northern so now a few of the people called me Yankee.

One of these people was Merle, who decided to give me his two cents about what he thought about his group. "Everyone there's a bunch of pussies, Yank. They've been stayin' in the same damn place since this happened."

"You've been stayin' with us!" T-Dog snapped, completely frustrated with Merle.

Merle glared at T-Dog. "I've been stayin' 'cause of my little brother. We'd be fine on our own, but he wants to stay a while!"

"You've got a brother?" I asked, trying to change the subject. Honestly, I couldn't imagine what it was like to have Merle at this camp, let alone another one like him.

Merle squinted up at me. "Sure do, Yankee." He didn't go any farther than that and I didn't push it. There was a moment of silence before the stairway door burst open and the rest of the group filed back onto the roof. I left where I was standing beside Merle to go see what happened with Rick and the others. We all lined up along the edge of the roof while Jacqui filled in T-Dog on what happened downstairs, which was to say that they didn't find a way out.

Rick was peering off into the distance. "What's that over there?" He asked. I followed his gaze and saw a big cube truck surrounded by a tall, wired fence.

"It's looks like a construction sight," I said.

"The keys would be kept nearby," Rick said. "Either in the truck itself or in that building right there." He pointed to the small building right next to the truck, which was probably an office for the construction sight.

"Are you blind?" Andrea asked scathingly. "The streets filled with Walkers. And if they hear you, smell you, or see you, you're dead."

"They can smell you?" Rick asked, looking frightened by this new information.

"They smell dead, we don't." Andrea said. "It's pretty distinct." Rick suddenly got a look on his face that said that he was thinking hard. And finally, he straightened and glanced around at the rest of us.

"I've got a plan," He said before rushing back down to the stairs. This time I followed along with everyone else.


	4. 4: Guts

"I still think this is a crappy idea," I said as Rick dragged in the dead Walker from the alley. When Rick had suggested that he and Glenn smear Walker guts on themselves to blend in, I had thought he was joking. But here he was, with a dead Walker and T-Dog was holding a fire ax.

"It's the only plan we've got, Yankee." Morales said with a disgusted look on his face. Rick laid the Walker down in front of us and he and Glenn were wearing some plastic ponchos that I had found in the department store. Rick took the fire ax from T-Dog and raised it above his head. I closed my eyes and prepared for the sound of the ax hitting dead flesh but it never came.

I opened my eyes to see that Rick had started to rummage through the Walker's pockets. Rick pulled out a wallet and flipped it open. He cleared his throat. "His name was Wayne Dunlap. Georgia driver's license. He had a picture of a pretty girl in here. When I find my family, I'm gonna tell them about Wayne."

We all nodded solemnly. Rick handed Glenn the wallet and Glenn started to thumb through it. Rick was in the middle of raising the ax over his head again when Glenn snorted. I glanced over at him. Glenn looked bashful to have the eyes of all the group on him. "It says he was an organ donor."

I shook my head at the irony and no one had anything to say about that. So free from interruptions, Rick finally managed to swing the ax down onto the corpse of Wayne Dunlap.

The sickening crunch I had been dreading finally sounded again and again as Rick continued to swing the ax down on the Walker. Rick paused and the sound of gurgling and squishing filled the air as Rick buried his hands into the mess. Rick glanced at Glenn, who hesitantly did the same. The rest of the group stepped forward and picked up some guts with the long blue gloves we had found.

The guts squished between my fingers and I resisted the urge to puke and the scent of rotting meat filled up into my nostrils. Andrea's face was tinted green and Glenn was moaning that he was going to hurl. I had to agree with him as I picked up the clumps of rotting meat and organs and I didn't waste any time slapping it onto Glenn. Glenn kept moaning in disgust but Rick kept his stony expression.

"This is bad," Glenn complained as I smeared guts onto his shoulder.

"Think about anything else," Rick advised. "Puppies and kittens."

T-Dog rolled his eyes. "_Dead _puppies and kittens."

This thought was too much for Glenn, as he promptly doubled over and threw up, adding another terrible smell to the sick fest that was happening here. I narrowed my eyes at T-Dog. "Really?" I asked. T-Dog shrugged and continued to cover Rick. Glenn straightened himself and nodded for me and Andrea to continue covering him.

Soon Rick and Glenn were both ready to go outside with the Undead. Rick gave T-Dog the key to Merle's handcuffs before they left and the group rushed upstairs. I stood beside my two friends as they walked over to the door.

"Be careful," I said.

Rick nodded and smiled at me. "Don't worry. We'll be back." Glenn nodded in agreement, though he still looked like he was about to puke. I smiled back at them, but it was forced. If something happened to Rick, there went my only actual friend in this apocalypse. But before I could say anything else, Rick and Glenn opened the door slowly to leave. I shut the door behind them and immediately started to thunder up the stairs to the roof.

Morales, Andrea, and Jacqui were lined against the edge of the roof, staring down at Rick and Glenn. T-Dog was sitting again, trying to contact the rest of their group. And Merle was still handcuffed to the roof. I stood beside Jacqui and she pointed out where Rick and Glenn were. Jacqui patted me on the back. "Don't worry; your dad's gonna be fine."

"He's not my dad," I mumbled, though I wasn't sure if she heard me.

Static filled T-Dog's radio and we barely heard someone's voice. T-Dog's eyes widened. "Shane is that you? We're trapped in the department store! Geeks are all over the place; we're surrounded!"

There wasn't much of an answer; the connection was broken off again. T-Dog shouted "Shit!" and almost threw the radio away but Morales stopped him. I tore my eyes from them and quickly found Rick and Glenn on the street with the Undead.

Then I felt a raindrop on my head. I looked up as thunder boomed and the first wave of rain started to fall. Dread washed over me along with the rain; their guts were going to wash off! "C'mon, hurry it up!" I whispered to myself. Jacqui reached over and squeezed my hand and I squeezed back, grateful for the small show of support.

I couldn't really see them anymore; they were too far away. But we did see two figures begin to run for the fence and the other Walkers chased after them. The boys climbed over the fence and gunfire ensued. I was slapping my hand against the cement edge as they climbed into the truck and mowed down the back gate. They were going in the opposite direction of us...

"They're leaving us!" Andrea said, panicked.

"What?" Merle demanded from his spot. He was up on his knees, trying to see over the ledge.

T-Dog's radio buzzed. Glenn's voice came through. "Meet us down at the front of the store! Be ready!"

"Let's go!" Morales shouted as he swiped up one of the bags that they had. Andrea and Jacqui did the same and the three of them ran as fast as they could down to the front of the store.

Merle stared. "Where you going? Morales!" But the others ignored him.

I didn't. I hurried over to Merle with my backpack on my back and I grabbed the handcuffs roughly, trying to see if I could pick the lock. I turned back to T-Dog, "Give me the key!" I shouted at him. T-Dog had apparently "forgotten" Merle and was about to leave. He stared back at me with a rushed and panicked expression. "We have to help!"

"It ain't human, man!" Merle shouted. T-Dog ran back to where we were, the key glimmering in his hand. But T-Dog missed the last step of the stairs and tripped, the key flying out of his hand and down the drain. Merle glared back at T-Dog, curses and anger streaming out of him.

T-Dog responded by saying he was sorry a thousand times and grabbing me by the hand. "We gotta go, Yank!" He shouted.

"We can't leave him here to die!" I retaliated but T-Dog was stronger than me and was able to pull me away from Merle without trouble. Merle shouted after us.

I saw the toolbox and thought fast. I kicked the toolbox over to Merle, the saw landing just within his reach. Before T-Dog got me to the door, I saw Merle grab the saw and he met my eyes. Merle nodded to me right as T-Dog shut the door.

"Get down there, Terry!" T-Dog told me. "I'll meet you down there!" I nodded and ran down the stairs while T-Dog locked the door to the roof. He caught up to me right as we entered the store part of the building. The Walkers finally busted through the final set of glass doors. T-Dog grabbed my hand and pulled me faster. I felt like my arm was about to be dislocated from my shoulder but I forced myself to keep running to catch up with him.

We made it right as Morales, Andrea, and Jacqui lifted the metal door to reveal the cube truck with Rick waiting for us. T-Dog let go of me and we all dove into the truck as Rick got into the driver's seat. The Undead had just entered the room we were in just as Morales and T-Dog shut the door and Rick drove away from that damned department store.


	5. 5: The Quarry

Morales directed us back to their camp. At some point of the journey up here, Glenn had driven by in a red sports car and his fist pumping at us from out the window. But now we were up in the hills, overlooking a large pond in the middle of the stone quarry. It was a very peaceful looking place, I thought as we parked the truck. Andrea, Jacqui, and T-Dog didn't waste any time getting out to greet heir family and friends. I hovered between the driver's and passenger seat, between Rick and Morales.

Morales smiled at the pair of us. "C'mon and meet everyone." He said kindly. He got out of his seat and went out to say hello to he rest of his group. I looked over at Rick and saw that he had his hands on the wheel, gripping it tightly. It took me one second to figure out what he was thinking.

I put my hand on his shoulder and patted it in what I thought was a comforting way. Rick glanced over at me, his eyes brimming with emotion about his wife and son. I gave him a small smile. "We're going to find them." I said, hoping that I sounded assuring. "Now let's go meet this group. Maybe they can help us."

Rick smiled at me before leaving the car. I followed him and we stepped out from behind the van we were parked behind just as we heard Morales talking about us.

"New people got us out." Morales was saying. "The guy's a cop like you. Hey helicopter boy, Yankee, c'mon and meet everyone!"

Rick and I walked into the view of everyone and I found myself wishing that I could be smaller underneath all the new people staring. One of the guys, a tall man with dark hair and eyes took one look at us and froze when he saw Rick. I glanced to my side at Rick and saw that he had locked eyes with the man. And then Rick's eyes slid over to a point behind the man and they found a woman with auburn hair and a boy around twelve years old who had the same eyes as Rick...

"Oh my God," I whispered as Rick started to hurry forward.

The little boy saw Rick and a look of joy crossed his face. "Dad!" He screamed, running forward to hug him for the first time in forever. I stayed back as the two crashed into each other. Rick's wife hurried forward as well and held onto her husband tightly. I felt the slight burn of tears of happiness fill my eyes but I rubbed them away, thrilled for my friend. He had finally found his family.

When Rick separated from his family he glanced over at me. I was about to tell him that he didn't have to introduce us, but Rick grabbed my hand and pulled me closer so that I could meet his wife and son. "Lori, Carl, this is Terry. She helped get me off the road and to Atlanta."

Lori took a step towards me and swept me into a tight hug. I hesitated before I hugged her back. She finally pulled away and looked at me with tears glistening in her eyes. "Thank you," She whispered to me.

* * *

><p>That night as we sat around the campfire, Rick gave his story about how he woke from his coma and traveled to Atlanta. He brought me into the story when he found me on the side of the road and how I was close to pulling my gun to shoot him. The group around the fire laughed at this and I ducked my head from the sudden attention.<p>

Dale, probably the oldest member of group, looked over at Shane with a frown. "Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon? He won't be happy to find out his brother's been left behind."

I perked up my ears at the mention of Merle's brother. I remembered the slight conversation I had had with Merle about him, and I felt guilty at the idea of someone coming home to find out that their brother had been left for dead.

_But you gave him the saw_, a voice in my head reminded me. I remembered how I had locked eyes with Merle right before T-Dog dragged me out of there. Hopefully, Merle had sawed off the handcuffs and got away. Hell, he could show up at camp tomorrow, pissed off but alive.

"I'll tell him," T-Dog said, sounding just as guilty as I felt.

"I cuffed him to the roof, that's makes it my responsibility." Rick insisted.

"Guys, it's not a competition." Glenn said from where he sat beside me.

T-Dog looked around at all of us. "I know what I did. I'm not proud of it."

"We could lie," Amy suggested. She was sitting right beside Andrea, who I learned was her older sister. Amy was a few years younger than me.

"Or we could tell the truth," Andrea said. "Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he would've gotten us killed. If he got left behind, it's no one's fault but Merle's."

"And that's what we tell Daryl?" Dale asked with a raised eyebrow. "I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you? Word to the wise, we're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt."

I spoke up. "Right before T-Dog and I left, I managed to kick a saw over to him. I'm pretty sure he picked it up right before we shut the door."

"So he could've gotten away," Lori said, looking hopeful. But T-Dog still looked grim.

He glanced at me. "You didn't see the lock I put on that door. It's a narrow staircase, a thick chain. No geeks would be able to get through there. No one would be able to bust out through that door. Not that chain, not that padlock. Eve if he did get out of the cuffs, he's still up on that roof. That's on us." And with that he got up and left us by the fire. I exchanged a glance with Glenn, a fresh wave of guilt hitting me.

* * *

><p>Andrea and Amy let me share their tent with them that night. I woke up the next morning, and the sisters weren't in there with me. I peered up at the sun streaming in through the thin tent flap and I realized that I was probably late morning. I started to stretch when I noticed the pile of clothes by the foot of my sleeping bag. They look about my size, and I didn't hesitate before putting on the first set of fresh clothes that I had had in a long time.<p>

I walked out into the camp and saw a group of women doing laundry, Dale up on top of his camper so he could keep watch, and the Grimes family sitting around the small fire. I didn't want a reputation around here as a slacker; I had already slept in. So I walked over to one of the women doing laundry.

She was an older lady, probably in her late thirties, but maybe she was younger; her hair was gray so I honestly couldn't tell. She smiled kindly at me. "Hello," She said in a soft voice. "I'll wash your clothes from yesterday if you want me to."

"That's really nice of you," I said. She smiled at me just as the sound of two kids screaming in the woods sounded. The woman's face paled. We charged along with the others to where the two kids, Carl and Sophia, were.

Rick, Shane, Dale, Glenn, and Jim all ran forward and I found myself following them. Andrea and Amy saw me following and went after me. We all stumbled into the scene of a Walker gnawing on a dead deer that had arrows sticking out of it's side. The Walker turned at the sound of us approaching and growled. But the men rushed forward and began to stab and jab at the monster. Andrea, Amy, and I stood on the sidelines and watched.

Dale cut off the Walker's head. Panting, he said, "This is the first one we've had up here. They never come this far up the mountain."

"They're running out of food in the city," Jim said grimly. Suddenly, the bushes behind Jim began to rattle. The men tensed up for a fight with another Walker, but instead a man emerged from the bushes.

He glared around at the group surrounding him with small, blue eyes. I felt my breath catch in my throat as I realized that Merle had the same color eyes. So this was Daryl...

"Sumbitch," Daryl said as he looked down at the chewed up deer. "That's my deer! Look at it, all gnawed on this filthy, disease-bearing, bastard!" With every word, he vented his frustration by kicking the Walker hard in the side. Rick looked around at the others and met my eyes. He was thinking the same thing as me, that this was definitely Merle's younger brother.

"I'd been tracking this deer for miles," Daryl said, yanking the arrows out of the deer's side. "Gonna drag it back to camp. D'you think we could cut around this chewed up part right here?" Daryl pointed to the deer's neck that had the worst of the Walker's bites.

"I wouldn't risk that," Shane said.

Daryl snorted. "Damn shame. But I got some squirrel; half a dozen or so. That'll have to do." From down at his feet, The Walker's head came back to life, moving it's jaw and blinking up at everyone.

"Oh God," Amy said before rushing off before she got sick. Andrea went after her and I followed more hesitantly. The men would be back at camp in a second. We joined the rest of the women underneath the shade of the awning on the camper. Andrea and Amy were quickly explaining that Daryl was back he came out of the woods.

"Merle!" He called out, looking for his brother. "Get your ass out here. Got us some squirrel; stew 'em up."

"Daryl, slow up a bit. We need to talk to you." Shane said, putting his gun down and walking after Daryl. "There was a problem in Atlanta."

Daryl blinked, though his face turned pale for a brief moment. "Dead?" He asked.

"Not sure," Shane said.

"He either is or he ain't!" Daryl snapped.

Rick stepped forward. "There's easy way to say this so I'll just say it."

Daryl glared at Rick. "Who are you?"

"Rick Grimes."

"Rick _Grimes_? You got somethin' you wanna tell me?"

"Your brother was a danger to us all." Rick said. "So I handcuffed him to a roof and he's hooked on a piece of metal. He's still there."

Daryl's face was turning red from anger. "So let me process this; you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you _left him there_?"

Rick paused before saying, "Yeah." Daryl threw his strong of squirrels at Rick, to which Rick ducked. Shane tackled Daryl to the ground and Daryl pulled out his knife. There was a tense moment where Rick, Shane, and Daryl all faced each other, then Daryl lunged and Shane got him in a chokehold while Rick managed to get the knife out of Daryl's hand. They held him down until Daryl stopped squirming. Shane released him and Daryl fell to the ground.

"It's not Rick's fault," T-Dog said from where he was standing. "I had the key. I dropped it."

"You couldn't pick it up?" Daryl snapped. T-Dog glanced at me before continuing.

"Terry managed to kick him a saw before we left." T-Dog continued. "She says she saw him grab it."

"Who?" Daryl asked, following T-Dog's gaze until his angry state landed on me. I forced myself not to loo away from Daryl as he held my gaze, until finally Rick started talking again and Daryl turned around to glare at him.

"I'm going back into Atlanta." Rick said. I stared at him. What? "You're welcome to come along to get him back." Lori disappeared into the camper. Daryl stalked off to go get ready and Rick went over to go get his stuff.

Rick gathered Daryl, Glenn, and T-Dog to go get Merle back. They got ready to leave and I finally stepped forward to Rick.

"Make sure Merle's okay." I told him. Daryl heard me and narrowed his eyes at me. I met his gaze evenly. "I was the only one to try and help him get out of there. I got him the saw." I reminded Daryl. He didn't say anything, just looked me up and down and jumped into the back of the truck. I looked back to Rick. "Just don't die. You're my only friend up here."

Rick smiled at me kindly. "Don't worry, Terry. We'll all be back. And I'll make sure Merle thanks you for giving him that saw." I couldn't help but laugh at the thought of Merle thanking anyone for anything. Rick snorted in amusement as well and wrapped his arm around me briefly to hug me goodbye. When we released and backed away and went over to where Carol and Jacqui were standing.


	6. 6: Camp Life

Carol began to teach me how to do the laundry a while after Rick and the others left. Andrea, Amy, and Jacqui joined us by the pond with Amy, Andrea, and Carol scrubbing the clothes and Jacqui and I squeezed them and hung them up to dry.

"I miss my Maytag." Carol said with a sigh as she scrubbed the clothes against the wash board.

"I miss my coffee maker with a built in grinder," Jacqui sighed from beside me.

"I miss texting," Amy added.

"I miss the internet," I said, remembering the act of looking up random and useless facts for no reason other than boredom.

Andrea paused before saying, "I miss my vibrator." We smiled and laughed at Andrea's bluntness.

"I miss mine," Carol said softly, so we almost didn't hear her. This send everyone laughing; the idea of sweet and innocent Carol with a vibrator.

Our laughing drew attention. Carol's husband, a thick man named Ed, walked over and glared at each and every one of us. "What's so funny?"

"Just sharing war stories, Ed!" Andrea said with a smile. Ed continued to glare at us and even though we went back to work, he didn't leave. I glanced over my shoulder a few times at him, but he never left. The others were beginning to feel uneasy too, except Carol. Carol shied away and tucked her arms closer to her body, trying to make herself small.

Finally, Andrea had enough and she stood up. "You know Ed, if you want your laundry done right, you can join us."

"I wouldn't want to hang around some uppity college educated bitch," Ed snapped. I widened my eyes at him as Ed glared down to Carol. "C'mon; let's go." Despite the fact that Carol didn't see Ed talk to her, she knew it was her that he was referring to. Carol stood up and tried to go to Ed, but Andrea stood in her way and blocked the married couple. Amy, Jacqui, and I stood up as Ed stepped forward to tower over Andrea and Carol.

Carol whimpered to Andrea that she should drop it but Andrea remained to stand between Carol and Ed. I couldn't decide if that was brave or just stupid. The conflict of what it was left my mind when Ed grabbed Carol roughly by the arm and tried to drag her away. I exchanged a look with Jacqui before we both stepped forward to protect Carol.

"Get out of my face, you dumb bitches," Ed snapped at the sight of the gathering women. He turned his beady gaze to Carol, still locked in his grip. "Now _you _get your ass back up to camp."

"So she can show up with fresh bruises later?" Jacqui asked, looking disgusted at Ed. "We've seen them, Ed. On her _and _her little girl." A rush of new hate for Ed filled my stomach as I realized just how much of a bad person Ed was.

"That ain't your concern." Ed snarled and he began to drag Carol away. Andrea acted fast and pried Ed's hand off of Carol. But instead of goin after Andrea, he went after Carol. Ed raised his hand and before I could comprehend that his hand was up, he flashed it down against Carol's face. Carol doubled over as Andrea started to slap at Ed. I jumped forward to try and get Carol away from him.

Ed started to hit anyone who got too close. He pushed Andrea into Jacqui and one of his flailing hands hit my jaw hard. I stumbled and continued to pull Carol away from him. She was crying and yelling at us to stop trying to help her, and for Ed to stop hurting us. Right before the scene could escalate any faster than it already had, Shane came out from behind Ed and grabbed him by the back of his shirt.

Shane dragged Ed away from us before he threw the large man on the ground. At first I thought that that would be the end of that. But Shane got on top of Ed and started to punch his face over and over again. I let go of Carol and she doubled over, tears spilling from her eyes and crying out for Shane to stop. Andrea, Jacqui, and I looked at each other before we started to shout for Shane to stop too. Though I think we all would've been fine if Shane hadn't stopped punching the scumbag.

Shane did stop and he got off of Ed. The second he got off, Carol ran to her husband's side and she was bawling, saying, "Ed I'm so sorry! Eddie I'm sorry!" As if it was her fault that Ed got the snot beat out of him. I glanced over at Shane, who glared down at Ed before he glanced back at the rest of us. He whipped around and stalked away, rubbing his head while he left.

Amy and Andrea finished putting the laundry away so that they could go fishing later. Jacqui and I walked back up to camp right behind Ed and Carol. Carol had helped Ed to his feet and was supporting him back up the hill. I had told the others that we should keep an eye on them, and Jacqui had agreed immediately.

The camp must've heard about what happened to Ed because when we all got back, the kids were taking a field trip with Lori and Mrs. Morales to the woods to gather mushrooms, Dale stared at Ed and wrinkled his nose but didn't say anything, and Shane was standing underneath the awning of the camper. Carol took Ed back to their tent and Jacqui and I stood in the middle of camp awkwardly.

Shane narrowed his eyes at the pair of us. "Are y'all Carol's guardians now, or what?" He asked.

Jacqui and I glanced at each other before I shrugged at Shane. He snorted and went inside the camper. I walked over to the campfire and sat down beside the embers. My mind traveled to the run going to Atlanta and I wondered how it was going. Did they find Merle yet? Did they get the bag of guns back? I wished I could've gone, but I had the feeling that even if I volunteered Rick wouldn't let me take a step closer to that truck.

For all the talk about how there were always jobs around camp, I couldn't seem to find one. Dale had watch down, making sure that Walkers didn't show up. Lori, Carol, and Mrs. Morales babysitted the kids and taught them basic school stuff. I was grateful that I was long out of school; to do more of it after the world ended would've sucked.

I did basic chores around camp, straightening it up, bringing Dale cups of water whenever he asked, getting firewood. I was on one of my firewood runs when I heard the sound of a spade hitting the ground. I frowned and entered a clearing where I saw Jim digging into the ground. I stepped out of the woods and looked at what he was working on.

"Hey Jim," I said. "What's with art project you have here?" Jim barely looked up at me and didn't reply. He just kept digging. I counted the numbers of holes he had already finished but I had no clue why he would make these grave-like holes.

I went back to camp and spotted Dale looking out in the direction of where I had left Jim. "Do you see that?" I asked him. Dale nodded and climbed down from the camper as Andrea and Amy entered camp with long chains completely filled with fish. Usually the sight of that much food would make me feel fantastic, but I was too worried about Jim at the moment.

Dale and I approached the others, who were gathered around the sisters and their catch. Dale spoke as we got closer. "I'd hate to alarm anyone, but we may have a problem."


	7. 7: Attack

Jim was still digging feverishly when the group entered the clearing. Jim's clothes were soaked with sweat and I could see the strain he was under as he stabbed at the earth. I exchanged a look with Shane with my eyebrows up, silently telling him this is what Dale and I were talking about. Shane sighed and walked over to Jim.

Jim narrowed his eyes at Shane as he approached but didn't say anything. Shane looked back at us before turning back to Jim. "Hey Jim," He started. "Why don't you hold up a second, please."

"What d'you want?" Jim asked, stopping the shovel to glare at Shane.

"Just wanna talk, is all."

"Dale and Terry say you've been up here for a while now." Morales said. "By the looks of it, it's been hours."

"Why you diggin'?" Shane asked. "What you headin' to China?"

"Why does it matter?" Jim asked. "I'm not hurtin' anyone."

Dale tilted his head at his friend. "You're hurting yourself; it's a hundred degrees out."

Lori stepped forward and stood beside Shane. "Look, Jim, they're not going to say it so I will: you're scaring people, you're scaring my son and Carol's daughter."

"They got nothin' to be scared of," Jim said. He was beginning to sound frustrated. "Listen y'all, I'm up here by myself so why don't y'all go back down and leave me the hell alone?" He jammed the shovel back into the earth.

"We'll help you dig if that's what you want." I suggested. Shane glanced over his shoulder at me. "You can have a break and I'll help dig."

Shane stopped looking at me to turn back to Jim. "I'll stay and dig too, as long as you rest for a while. You're gonna hurt yourself. Why don't you go ahead and give me that shovel?"

Jim glared at Shane, his grip on the shovel tightening. "Or what?"

"There is no 'or what'. I'm asking you, please."

"You'll beat my face in like you beat Ed?" Jim asked, as if Shane hadn't just spoken. Jim looked out at the rest of us, and I saw the crazy glint in his eyes. "You've all seen his face, right? What's left of it! See, that's what happens when someone crosses you." He said, turning back to Shane.

"That was different." Shane said quietly.

"You weren't there!" Amy said from the back of the group. "Ed was out of control; he was hurting his wife!"

"And that's their business! That is not his!" Jim shouted. I glanced over my shoulder to see Carol pulling Sophia away from the group to head back to camp. Jim glared at Shane with that intense heat in his eyes. "Who voted you king boss, huh?" Shane reached out to take the shovel but Jim swung out at him, almost hitting Shane in the head. Shane ducked, luckily, and managed to tackle Jim to the ground. Dale hurried forward and took the shovel away as Jim started to cry loudly.

"Jim nobody's gonna hurt you, you hear me?" Shane said as nicely as he could while pinning him to the ground. "No one is gonna hurt you, okay?"

"Lies, that's a lie." Jim moaned, the side of his face planted into the ground. "Biggest lie there is. I told that to my wife and two boys. I said it a hundred times. Didn't matter. They came out of no where; there were dozens of them." He paused and let out a loud sob. "Took them right outta my hand. The only reason I got away was 'cause the dead were too busy eatin' my family."

I covered my mouth with my hand and looked over to where Lori was staring at Jim with shock. Shane let out a deep breath and stood up, dragging Jim to his feet. We all followed them back to camp.

* * *

><p>Andrea and Amy recruited me to help clean and gut the fish. By the end of it, my fingers had small cuts from the scales and the smell of dead fish lingered in my nose, but I felt better than I had in a long time. After the fish were all ready to be cooked, we gave them to Morales and he had Amy and I help him cook them. Earlier Morales had built the walls around the fire pits so we could have a bigger fire, more heat.<p>

The sun was sinking as the fish cooked. Jim was allowed to come and join us again and I invited him to come sit by me as we were served the fried fish once it was done. I sat between Jim and Jacqui as Morales declared the fish to be finished.

The fish tasted amazing; better than anything I had eaten since the apocalypse started. The salty taste had mingled with the smokiness of the fire and smoke and it created an aroma that I would have expected to have smelled at a restaurant. There wasn't any lemon or seasoning that we could put on it, but the fish tasted great even without it.

It was dark soon as everyone relished in the first great meal. Jim was feeling better, finally getting over his heat stroke. Even Shane looked at peace; he always seemed grouchy to me.

Morales was looking at Dale. "I gotta ask you man, it's been driving me crazy." Everyone looked up at Morales and Dale, wondering what could he be talking about.

"What?" Dale asked, leaning back in his chair and looking tired.

"That watch," Morales said, pointing at it.

"What about my watch?"

"I see you every day, same time, winding that thing like a village priest saying it's time for mass." Morales explained.

"I've wondered this myself," Jacqui said with a hint of amusement.

Dale looked around at all of us, as if the answer should be simple. "Time. It's important to keep track, isn't it? The days at least. Andrea, back me up here." He looked over at Andrea and she laughed, shaking her head and gesturing for him to continue. "I like what Father said to Son when he gave him a watch that had been handed down for generations. Said, 'I give you a mausoleum oh all hope and desire, which will fit your individual needs no better than it did mine or my father's before me. I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you may forget it for a moment, now and then, and not spend all of your breath trying to conquer it.'"

Silence met the end of Dale's speech. I finished my fish right as Amy said, "You are so weird."

"It's not me," Dale said as everyone chuckled. "It's Faulkner, William Faulkner. Maybe my bad paraphrasing."

There was a moment of silence as I sat my empty dish down and rested my head on my knees. Amy stood up from the fire, prompting Andrea to ask her where she was going. Amy rolled her eyes. "I have to pee. God, you try to be discreet around here." Everyone chuckled again as Amy left for the camper.

We sat in comfortable silence as everyone seemed to settle. Amy reappeared from the camper. "We're out of toilet paper!" She called out. Just then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a hunched figure wobbling towards Amy. The hair on my neck stood up straight as I recognized what it was, but before I could call out, it had reached Amy, grabbing her arm.

"Amy!" I shouted as the Walker sank its teeth into Amy's arm. Amy screamed in pain as the Walker tore a chunk out of her arm.

Walkers came from every direction. I launched myself to my feet as the others did the same, and everything seemed to be happening at once. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a whole family being taken down by a cluster of Undead. Lori and Carol and Mrs. Morales pulled their kids close to their sides and they stayed close to each other. I grabbed my gun from my holster and took aim at a nearby Walker. It noticed me and started to stumble towards me, but I squeezed the trigger and the Walker was dead on the ground.

Shane was firing his shotgun, keeping Lori and the rest of the women and children near him. Dale took aim and fired at some Walkers coming from the woods while Jim grabbed a baseball bat and went to town, beating heads in and charging after others. I aimed my gun at another Walker and shot it down right as another one took its place. I aimed and fired, hitting it's jaw but not killing it. I shot again and hit it this time, killing it.

More shots rang out of the night and I saw Rick led his group back into camp. Seeing reinforcements arrive made a new bravery flow into me as I shot down another Walker. I heard a shot painfully close to me and I turned around just in time to see a Walker that had been standing right behind me go down. I looked up at whoever shot it and was surprised to see Daryl standing there. He gave me a nod and started beating another Walker with the butt of his gun.

Just as soon as Daryl went to kill another Walker, two more showed up right behind him. I sucked in my breath and aimed. One of the Walkers went down and Daryl managed to turn around in time to kill the next. Once again, we locked eyes and this time I nodded at him. Then I heard my name sounding from the center of camp.

Rick was trying to gather everyone to the center of camp to keep us all safe. I charged in that direction, Daryl close behind me. We joined the others as the last Walker was shot to the ground by Shane.

Silence fell upon the camp that was broken only by the sound of people crying. I panted, looking around at the wreckage; the Undead had trampled tents and several people, leaving bloody corpses where our full group had once been. Carl ran to Rick and my friend took his family into his arms again. My eyes finally landed by the camper, and I felt cold when I saw Andrea holding her dead sister in her arms.

Andrea lifted her head and let out a scream of deep, emotional turmoil. From beside me, Lori dropped down to her knees.

"I remember my dream now," Jim said in a detached voice. "Why I dug the holes."


	8. 8: Hello Heartache

The sun rose over the Atlanta skyline. No one had slept last night. No one really could. Most of the group were dead. Andrea still hadn't moved, and she wasn't letting anyone go near Amy's body.

I had decided to join the men in what they were doing. Carol, Lori, and Mrs. Morales were just sitting around with the kids and I was getting restless. Shane had seen my edginess and told me to go help T-Dog, Glenn, and Daryl with getting rid of the bodies. It wasn't a dream job, but it was a hell of a lot better than sitting around doing nothing.

Daryl had an axe in his hands and was delivering blows to the head for every dead body we found. Then Glenn and I would pick up the bodies and drag them over to where T-Dog had started a bonfire. Jim and Jacqui were doing the same thing while T-Dog smashed heads. We didn't speak to one another as we worked; what could we say about this mess?

At some point Rick gestured for every one to come and gather around the small camp fire, which was giving off white smoke. He was worried about Andrea. I stood between Glenn and Daryl. Or really I just stood next to Glenn because Daryl would pause beside me, pace, pause beside me, pace some more. It made me feel tired just to watch him.

"That dead girl's a time bomb!" Daryl was saying, gesturing over to Amy's body.

"What d'you suggest?" Rick asked.

"Take the shot." Daryl said, talking as if it was obvious what we should do. "Hell, I can hit a turkey between the eyes from this distance."

"That sounds like a terrible plan," I muttered. Daryl heard me and whipped around to glare at me. I narrowed my eyes at him. "Andrea just lost her _sister. _We have to let her grieve her own way before we do anything."

"Terry's right," Lori said, nodding at what I had said. "For God's sake, let her be." She sat down on her seat. Daryl glared between the two of us before huffing and stalking away. We all slowly drifted apart to continue cleaning up the camp. I was making my way over to where T-Dog was getting more wood for the fire when I heard Glenn shout.

"We bury them!" Glenn shouted at Daryl and Morales. "Our people go over there." Daryl and Morales exchanged a look before dragging the body to the line of bodies we had made. T-Dog and I looked at each other before going back to what we were doing. But right as things began to settle again (or as close to settling as they could get) Jacqui cried out that Jim had been bit.

The entire group swarmed to where Jim was standing. Andrea remained beside her sister, not even paying attention to what was happening. Jim tried to defend himself but T-Dog hurried and grabbed him from behind. Daryl launched forward and pulled up Jim's shirt, revealing the perfect bite mark of a Walker. They both released Jim and backed away as Jim continued to mumble that he was okay.

"Hey, Jim," I said. "Let's go sit down over there." I motioned to beside the camper. Jim gladly went with me, seeing as I was the only friendly face he probably saw. I caught Rick's eye and he nodded to me, getting exactly what I was doing. Once we were beside the camper, I found two buckets and turned them over so we could sit. Jim sat the farthest away from the group, but he still was angled so that he could see whatever it was they were doing. I watched from afar as they formed a loose circle and began to discuss what the next step was.

I caught Daryl glancing over at me and Jim, and before Daryl even did it I anticipated it. Daryl came charging at Jim. Jim fell back off the bucket and tried to shield himself. I stood up and blocked Daryl's way, refusing to flinch away from the gory pick ax he was clutching over his head. Rick and Shane ran out from behind Daryl and Rick held his gun up to the redneck's head. Shane circled around him and stood beside me, in front of Jim.

"We don't kill the living," Rick snapped. Daryl tore his gaze away from Jim and lowered the ax. He turned and glared at Rick.

"That's funny, comin' from a man with a gun to my head." Daryl put the ax on the ground and stalked back to the others. Rick ordered me to stay with Jim as he got the rest of the group on the same page about our next move. Shane made sure I could handle Jim before following his friend.

Jim stared at me as I sat back down. "Why are you protecting me?" He asked.

I shrugged. "Because it'd be wrong not to."

I began to hear growling a few minutes later. I told Jim to stay where he was before I rounded the corner of the camper. Andrea was still holding her sister, but at arm's length. Amy was a Walker now, and she was trying to feebly get close enough to Andrea so that she could bite her. I looked around at the others; they were all standing up and making their ways to get closer. I looked back at Andrea; I couldn't hear what she was saying. And then she raised a gun to her sister's head and fired. Amy fell to the ground for the last time.

There was a funeral of sorts once Daryl collected all of the bodies. I had Jim go wait in the camper, and after I finished helping him inside, I was covered in his sweat. I ignored the obvious that my friend was suffering and went with everyone else to the clearing where Jim had dug all the graves. We all helped bury them, but Andrea wanted to bury her sister all by herself. And once they were all buried, we all trudged back down to camp.

After another hour of making sure the camp was safe, we all sat down beside the camp fire, to vote on where to go from here. Andrea was asleep in one of the big, comfy chairs, so we let her sleep. She had gone through hell today. Shane and Rick finally joined us and I kept hearing Daryl pacing from behind my chair.

Shane cleared his throat. "Now look there're no guarantees, either way I'll be the first one to admit that, but I've known this man a long time. I trust his instincts. I say the most important thing here is we need to stay together. So those of you who agree, we leave for the CDC first thing in the morning."

* * *

><p>The cars were packed and ready to go by the time the sun began to fill the sky with light. Shane and Rick stood in front of us as we made the final preparations. "Now listen up," Shane said. "Those with CBs we're gonna be on channel forty, but keep the chatter to a minimum. Now if anyone has a problem with it, just hit your horn one time and that'll stop the caravan. Any question?"<p>

Morales stepped forward. "We're, uh, we're not going." I turned to stare at the Morales family; surely they wouldn't be joking about something like this. But this was the most serious I had seen Morales. "We have family in Birmingham. We want to be with our own people."

"If you're on your own, you won't have anyone to watch your back." Shane said, trying to reason with them.

"We'll take the chance. I gotta do what's best for my family." Morales said firmly. "We've talked about it. We're sure." Rick handed over some ammo for them as the family said their hasty goodbyes. Mrs. Morales hugged me despite the fact that we never really spoke to one another. Morales shook my hand. "It was nice knowing you, Yankee." He said kindly as he left.

After the Morales family left, we began to load up into the cars. T-Dog and Andrea got a car together, Shane got his jeep to himself, as did Daryl with Merle's truck, Dale, Glenn, Jim, and Jacqui used the camper, the Grimes family, along with Carol and Sophia, climbed into the station wagon. At first I wasn't sure where to go, but then Carl and Sophia made room for me in the back of the station wagon. I crawled into the trunk and was able to sit there comfortably, not being squished by the three people sitting in the middle.

With Dale's camper in the lead, we headed off on the journey to the CDC, the place I had been trying to reach since the apocalypse started. We drove for probably two hours when the camper broke down. The caravan pulled over and I managed to get out of the trunk in time to hear that Shane and T-Dog were leaving to go find a gas station. Rick went inside the camper to check on Jim. I stood outside with Daryl as Carol and Lori walked over.

We waited a few minutes before Rick came back out, saying that Jim wanted to be left behind. "Is he okay? I mean is he clear enough to make that decision?" I asked. Rick shrugged.

"It's what he wants."

Dale blinked from where he stood. "When I said that I agreed with Daryl back at the camp, you misunderstood me. I would never agree to callously killing a man. I was going to say that we should ask Jim what he wants. And I think we have an answer."

Rick and Shane went back in and carried Jim all the way to the edge of the woods. When they propped him up against it, he looked up at it and said, "Another damn tree." He laughed a bit. I was happy to see that his sense of humor was still in tact. One by one everyone said goodbye until finally I was left. I walked up to Jim and hugged him best as I could.

"You're gonna be fine," I told him. Jim smiled weakly at me and closed his eyes.

"I know I will be," He said in a state of near peace. I held back the tears I felt coming on and said goodbye to Jim for the last time.


	9. 9: The CDC

We reached the CDC just after sun down. The moment the doors to the station wagon opened, I could smell the scent of death. I pulled the front of my shirt up so that I could block the smell a bit, but it didn't much. The group gathered on the sidewalk and Daryl gave me a funny look at me when he saw me struggling to keep my shirt over my mouth and nose. I was prepared to give him a retort but Daryl didn't say anything. Instead, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out the red bandanna he always carried and handed it to me.

I took it from his hand slowly, feeling as if he would snatch it back. But he didn't. I took it from his hand held my name before wrapping the bandanna around my face. I looked back at Daryl and he snorted at me. I assumed I looked silly with it over my face, but it was blocking the smell better than my shirt. Daryl and I were at the rear of the group and we hurried to keep up.

Bodies littered the ground and I could tell that they had been here for a long time. I was walking close to a body covered in a black blanket, but then I took a step too close and the blanket dissolved into a swarm of flies as they took flight. My stomach clenched and I walked a bit faster to keep up with Daryl and the others. More flies swarmed the air and I could see some bodies that were completely covered like the one I had just saw. I exchanged a glance with Daryl and we finally reached the others at the metal doors to the CDC.

Rick and Shane were trying to lift the door but to no avail. I heard loud growling behind me and I turned to see Walkers begin to approach us. A few of the others heard as well and we got on defensive as Shane told Rick that Fort Benning was still an option.

"That's a hundred miles the other way! We don't have gas or food!" Andrea said.

"Hundred and twenty-five," Glenn corrected her. "I counted how far we went."

The growls of the Walkers got louder as they got closer. I stood at the edge of the group with T-Dog, Daryl, and Dale. Carol, Lori, Jacqui were in the center and the kids were kept huddled between them. Meanwhile Rick, Shane, and Glenn were still trying to crash into the CDC.

"It moved!" Rick suddenly shouted. I glanced over my shoulder to where Rick was pointing at the camera mounted on the wall. I turned back around to face the Walkers right as one got too close. Daryl shot an arrow at it and the Walker crumbled to the ground in a lifeless heap.

"Rick, there's nothing here!" Lori was yelling at her husband. "We have to get out of here!"

"Someone's in there!" Rick screamed. More growls and snarls emitted from in front of us. Rick's screams were bringing more of them to us. And it was getting even darker so I couldn't see most of the Walkers.

"Can you see anything?" I asked, not caring who it was who answered me.

Daryl was the one who heard me, probably because his bandanna was muffling my voice and Daryl was standing close enough to hear. "Nah. We can't hit 'em if we can't see 'em." I glanced over my shoulder again to see Shane trying to pull Rick away from that camera.

"You're killing us!" Rick was screaming. "You're killing us!"

A blinding light came out from the metal door as it slid open. The entire group froze as we stared at the now open door. Rick turned around and looked at all of us, "C'mon! Get inside!" We snapped out of our daze and hurried to run inside, leaving the Walkers behind.

The inside of the CDC was absolutely spotless. I hadn't seen a place this clean since the beginning of the outbreak. The smell from the outside was practically nonexistent. I yanked Daryl's bandanna off my face and handed it to him; he took it back and shoved it into his pocket without saying anything.

"What do you want?" A voice asked from the shadows of the clean building. From beside me, Daryl instantly pointed his crossbow at the source of the voice, a blond man who was pointing a shotgun at us.

"A chance," Rick said, sounding as tired as everyone else. I guessed that screaming your head off and pounding against a metal door really wiped you out.

"That asking a lot these days." The man said, stepping closer. "Was anyone bit?"

"One of our own was. He didn't make it."

The man slowly lowered his weapon and, as a response, we slowly lowered ours too. His shotgun hung by his side as he carefully looked at all of us. "You'll all need to take a blood test before I can let you stay here." Rick automatically agreed. "If you want to leave, this is your last chance. Once those doors close, they won't open again."

Shane, Glenn, Daryl, and T-Dog went to go grab everyone's stuff. When they came back, the man closed the metal doors and introduced himself as Dr. Jenner. He led us into a room where he sat us down to take samples of our blood. We formed a sort of line as Jenner did the procedure one by one. When it was finally my turn, I didn't even flinch away from the needle when he plunged it down into the crook of my arm. Jenner noticed my calm about needles and commented on it.

In response, I used my other arm to reveal my tattoo on my left side, right on my ribs. "I got used to needles." I said. Jenner nodded, seemingly impressed, and sent me along so that he could take some of Glenn's blood.

"I didn't know you had a tattoo," Carl said, looking at me with wide eyes. Sophia looked just as surprised as he did and I could see their mothers listening in on the conversation.

I showed them the tat again. Carl frowned. "Why do you have a bird?" Lori nudged her son, reminding him not to be too nosy.

"It's a magpie," I said, looking down at it. "It was my mom's favorite bird. I got this when she died." Carl's eyes went wide and the air around us went solemn. I turned back to where the blood tests were almost finished and I saw Daryl watching me with an odd expression in his face. He looked away when I caught him though.

Daryl had been acting odd ever since he got back from Atlanta. He saved my life from that Walker, but that was something that I would hope he'd do on his own. He lent me his bandanna back when we were outside, and he seemed to be keeping an eye on me for a while now. I told myself that I should talk to him later, but then I thought about how weird that would sound.

The blood tests were finally finished and Jenner led the way to an elevator that took us underground. "Don't plug in anything that requires electricity." Jenner was saying. "There should be plenty of rooms to go around, and there are fully functioning bathrooms in each room. Just don't go crazy with the hot water. I'll meet you all in the cafeteria for dinner later." He left us alone to go into the cafeteria, but we were too shocked about the idea of a hot shower.

I chose a room and quickly threw myself down on the large bed. This was the best bed I had lain on in a _long_ time. I gave myself a little tour of the room, moving around it, running my hand along the sleek furniture, and finally going into this fully functional bathroom. The bathroom was sleek and polished and I instantly felt wrong for sitting in there while being so dirty and sweaty. I stripped down to nothing and stepped into the shower, crying out as the warm water fell down on top of me.

It was the best shower I had ever had. Sure the water was lukewarm and the shampoo and soap could've been better, but I had gone for so long without even rinsing off. Even after I cleaned myself, I just stood under the spray of water, smiling like a fool and catching water in my hands so that I could splash it in my face again.

When I got back to the cafeteria, most of the group were already sitting and eating the food Jenner made. I saw baked beans, sausages, salad with vegetables that actually crunched. I loaded a plate and sat down between Rick and Glenn. Jenner watched us quietly from the edge. Then Dale found a bottle of wine and everyone poured themselves a glass; even Carl got to taste a little bit, but the kid instantly hated the taste and Lori poured Carl's glass into her own.

Shane looked drunk already as he swallowed a large mouthful of wine. He looked over at Jenner. "Hey Jenner, where is everybody?"

"Shane, we're celebrating," Rick said from my side. "We'll get answers in the morning." Shane completely ignored him and asked again. Jenner got a sad look in his eye.

"We held up as long as we could." Jenner said. "But after communications went out, many of the employees here left to be with their families. But, most of them opted out."

"Opted out?" Shane repeated.

Jenner blinked. "Hung themselves, overdosed, they found ways." A chill went through the air and Glenn narrowed his eyes at Shane.

"Dude, you are such a buzzkill." Glenn said. Shane ignored him and stared at Jenner, apparently thinking hard about what Jenner said.


	10. 10: No Hope

The next morning I got up and took another shower. By the time I finished and got dressed again, everyone else was already eating breakfast. I walked over to where T-Dog had made powered eggs and fixed myself a plate. Glenn was moaning in pain at the table, asking everyone to never let him drink again. I smirked as Daryl walked over to get himself some breakfast. We made eye contact briefly before I nodded a greeting to him. He nodded right back and made himself a plate of powdered eggs and bacon. I moved away from him and sat down beside Jacqui, who was finishing her own plate of breakfast.

Shane walked in late with three red scratches on his neck. I frowned at it, seeing that the former cop was avoiding everyone's gaze. T-Dog was not as reserved as I was and he simply asked what happened. Shane jerked himself a bit, as if waking up.

"Oh, I must've done it in my sleep." Shane said, averting his gaze to the food.

"Never seen you do that before," Rick said thoughtfully.

"Me either," Shane mumbled, glancing over at Rick's side of the table. Daryl took Jacqui's empty seat beside me and started to shovel the food into his mouth. I raised an eyebrow at him, to which he just snorted.

"Any day could be the last, Yank," He grumbled. I shrugged at his logic and turned my attention back to my own food. We were only alone a few minutes before Jenner came in, fully dressed for the day but still looking extremely tired. A chorus of "mornings" went through the air as he passed our table. I saw Andrea and Dale glance at each other before Andrea stood up to address the doctor.

"Doctor, we didn't come here for the eggs." Andrea said bluntly. Jenner blinked before turning his back on Andrea. I watched in silent amusement as the doctor made her wait so that he could pour a cup of coffee. When he was finished, he turned back to Andrea and sipped his coffee.

"When you're all finished, you can follow me into the lab. I'll explain it all there." Jenner said curtly. I glanced with everyone around the table before we all stood up and Rick motioned Jenner to take us to the lab. Jenner sighed and led the way to an open room with computer monitors formed in a circle. A giant screen was mounted on the wall in front of most of the computers and there was a large clock, counting down. I stepped closer to it and frowned. Jenner stepped up to the front and said, "Vi, give me a playback of TS-19."

"Playback of TS-19." The female robot voice replied. I glanced at Glenn, who shrugged as the giant screen flickered to life and loaded up what looked like a brain. "Enhanced internal view." The screen zoomed in on the brain, revealing hundreds and hundreds of tiny flashing blue lights.

"What are those lights?" Shane asked.

"A person's life," Jenner said, and for the first time he didn't sound tired to me. "Experiences, memories, everything. Somewhere in all that organic wiring, in all those ripples of light, is you. The thing that makes you unique and human."

Daryl snorted from where he was standing in front of me. "You don't make sense,"

Jenner blinked calmly at Daryl. "Those are synapsis. Electric impulses in the brain that carry all the messages. They decide everything a person says, thinks, or does from the moment of birth to the moment of death."

"Death?" Rick repeated. "That's what this is, a vigil?"

Jenner mumbled something before saying, louder, "More of a playback of the vigil."

"This person died?" Andrea asked softly. "Who?"

"Test subject nineteen." Jenner said, sounding tired again. "Someone who was bitten, infected, and volunteered to have us record the process. VI, scan forward to first event!"

"Scanning to first event," VI said.

The brain on the screen zoomed back out so we saw the whole side of it. And suddenly, as it fast-forwarded, we saw a darkness seep up from the brain stem and into the actual brain, turning it black.

"What is that?" Glenn asked, staring at it with a dumbstruck expression.

"It invades the brain like meningitis." Jenner explained. "The brain shuts down, as do the major organs." The brain on the screen went entirely black and the poor figure that had been surrounding the brain stopped shaking. Jenner was staring up at the screen with a distinct sadness on his face. "Then death. Everything you ever were or ever will be, gone."

I heard Sophia's tiny voice from right beside Carol. "Is that what happened to Jim?"

I stiffened a bit and took a few steps away from the group, and my eye caught on the clock again. It was still counting down, and it had reached an hour left. I looked over back at the others; they were all still talking about the test subject. The screen now showed the black brain with red lights jetting from the stem to only one place. The figure around the brain started moving stiffly, that is until a shot of light appeared and a long slash went through the brain.

"He shot his patient," Andrea said softly.

I glanced back over to the clock; it was still going. "Jenner, I hate to keep bugging you with questions, but the clock is counting down. What happens at zero?" I asked.

Jenner blinked at me. "The basement generators run out of fuel."

"And then?" Rick pressed. Jenner didn't answer, he just sat down at his chair. Rick glared at him. "VI, what happens when the power runs out?"

"When the power runs out, facility wide decontamination will occur." VI replied smoothly.

* * *

><p>Lori was the first to notice it when the air shut itself off. Jacqui, Lori, Carol, the kids, and I all went back to the lab to see if Jenner knew the answer as to why the air conditioner shut off, but he wasn't there. I walked in front of the women, going straight for the computers.<p>

"Terry, be careful," Carl said quietly from beside his mother. I nodded back at him as I reached Jenner's computer. Did I dare touch it? Before I could even figure out what to do, Jenner marched into the lab with the men and Andrea, talking about how the energy was being prioritized.

We were all gathered back in the lab and Jenner gently moved me aside before punching a few codes into his computer. "The building's designed to keep the computers going until the last possible second. Air and running water would shut itself down around the half hour mark, which is right on time." I glanced up at the clock and sure enough, we were just passing the half hour left. "It was the French."

"What now?" I asked, lost again.

"While everyone was committing suicide in the hallways and leaving, they stayed." Jenner said. "As far as I know, they were the last ones standing."

"What happened?" Jacqui asked.

"Same thing that's happening here." Jenner said.

I started to sense the danger of being here just around the same time Rick did. Our leader turned to his wife almost immediately. "Lori, get your things; everyone, we're getting out of here now!"

Everyone began to move in a rush to get to the door, but just as Daryl reached them, they slid shut, much like the doors we saw when we first came here. This led to panic as everyone turned right back around to where Jenner was standing beside his computer. I felt cold as the realization hit me: we were trapped in here while a countdown escorted us to our death.

"You son of a bitch!" Daryl shouted, charging towards Jenner. Shane hurried to grab him followed by T-Dog. Daryl managed to grasp ahold of Jenner's coat, but he wasn't able to hurt him like he wanted to. It took both Shane and T-Dog to keep Daryl from attacking Jenner like an animal. Sophia started to cry as Carol attempted to calm her. "Open the damn things!"

"I can't control that, the computers do that." Jenner said calmly. "I told you that once those doors closed they wouldn't open again. You all heard me say that." He looked more awake than I had ever seen him. "It's better this way."

"What is?" Rick asked. "What happens in twenty eight minutes?" Jenner didn't answer right away, causing Rick to grab ahold of him to shake some answers out. Jenner threw Rick off of him with great force.

"Do you people know what this place is?" He asked, screaming until he was red in the face. "We protected the public from some very nasty stuff! Weaponized smallpox! Ebola strings that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you wouldn't want to get out ever! In the event of a catastrophic event, like a terrorist attack, for example, HITs are deployed to prevent anything from getting out."

"HITs?" I repeated, my voice shaking. "What are those?"

"VI, define HIT." Jenner ordered, sitting back down in his chair and rubbing his forehead.

"HITs, high-impulse thermobaric fuel-air explosive consists of a two-stage aerosol ignition which produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive except nuclear. The vacuum-pressure effect ignites the oxygen between five thousand and six thousand degrees and is used when the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired."

I dropped into a chair and ran my hands through my hair. I could hear Sophia and Carol both crying and I heard Carl whimpering as his mother and father held on tight to each other. Andrea had slid down to the floor and Daryl had ceased his angry pacing to stand perfectly still.

"It sets the air on fire." Jenner said. "No pain. An end to sorrow, grief, regret. Everything."

It was about a few minutes before everyone seemed to get their minds back together. Daryl rushed over to the door and started to throw stuff at it, screaming at Jenner to open it. Carol and Sophia were huddled together on the ground, shaking and crying. Jacqui and Andrea had both remained perfectly still and I had resorted to a pastime of Daryl's, which was pace and pace and pace some more.

Jenner was watching Daryl through narrowed eyes. "Those doors are strong enough to endure a rocket blast."

"You're head ain't!" Daryl screamed and he charged at Jenner but was foiled again by Shane and Rick. Jenner stood up and stared at Rick with his head tilted to the side.

"You _want _this." Jenner said to Rick. "Just last night you said you knew it was just a matter of time before everyone you loved was dead."

I looked over at Rick, praying to God that what Jenner was saying wasn't true. But judging by Rick's face, it was. Shane glared at Rick. "You said that? After al your big talk?"

"I had to keep hope alive, didn't I?" Risk asked.

"There is no hope." Jenner said simply. "There never was."

"There's always hope. Maybe it won't you, maybe not be here. But somebody somewhere..." Rick said, though he sounded unsure towards the end of his sentence.

Andrea sighed. "What part of 'everything is gone' do you not understand?"

Jenner glanced between Andrea and Rick. "Listen to your friend. She gets it. This is what takes us down. This is our extinction event."

Carol sniffled from over in the corner. "This isn't right. You can't just keep us here. My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this!"

The doctor blinked at her sadly, like he was trying to get her to understand him. "Wouldn't it be kinder, to be more compassionate to just hold your loved ones and wait for the clock to run down?" I heard Daryl hitting the doors again with the fire ax Glenn had found. The sound of a shot gun being loaded filled the air and I looked away from Daryl to see Shane with his gun, hurrying towards Jenner. The former cop pressed the barrel against Jenner's face and screamed when the man refused to let us out.

Shane aimed his gun at the computers and began to fire at random. Everyone ducked down and shielded themselves until Rick managed to knock Shane down, stopping the shots. I got up and looked back at the clock; we had a little over six minutes left.

Once Shane was back on his feet, Rick looked around at everyone. He locked eyes with me before turning back to Jenner. "I think you're lying about there being no hope. Your colleagues took the easy way out and you didn't. You chose the hard path. Why?"

Jenner shook his head. "It doesn't matter now."

"It _does _matter. It always matters. You stayed when others ran; why?"

The doctor looked up at Rick with sadness burning in his eyes. "Because of her. I made a promise to my wife." He pointed up at the screen where test subject nineteen had been. The hair on my arms stood up straight. "She begged me to keep going as long as I could. How could I say no? It should've me on that table. She was a loss to the world, I just worked here! In our field, she was an Einstein! Me, I'm just Edwin Jenner. She could've done something about this, not me."

"All we're asking for is a chance," Rick pleaded. I heard Daryl pounding at the door again.

"Let us keep trying as long as we can," Lori begged, holding on tight to her son. Jenner took in all of the people surrounding him, and I imagined just how desperate we looked. But what he saw changed his mind as he walked back to his computer and punched in a few buttons, opening the door that Daryl had been trying to hack down.

"I can't open the topside's doors," Jenner said quietly. Everyone made a move to run out. I ran past Jacqui and T-Dog as we got to the ramp leading out of the lab.

"I'm stayin'!" Jacqui yelled at T-Dog. I stopped in my tracks and turned to look back at my friend. T-Dog was silent before he tried to pull her away again. Jacqui looked at the pair of us with tears in her eyes. "There's no time to argue. Just get out, both of you." She pushed T-Dog back and turned her back on us. I glanced at the clock; four minutes.

I grabbed T-Dog's arm and pulled him out of the lab, fresh grief heavy in my chest. We reached the first floor to where Shane and Daryl were trying to bust open the grounds. Shane grabbed his shot gun and shot at the window, but the glass wouldn't break.

"Rick!" Carol called. "I have something that might help!"

"Carol, I don't think a nail file's gone do much good." Shane snapped. Carol ignored him.

"When you first got to camp and I washed your clothes, I found this in your pocket." Carol pulled out a small grenade and handed it to Rick. I remembered the soldier from the tank and called for the others to duck somewhere. Rick ran to the window to pull the pin. As he was running back, the grenade exploded, opening a passage wide open in the window.

"Go!" Rick screamed, leading the way out. I bolted after him and the others. Glenn passed me quickly, his legs faster and longer than mine. I noticed for a spilt second that I was falling behind, but then someone grabbed my wrist roughly and nearly yanked my arm out of my socket as I was pulled faster. Daryl growled at me to keep moving and he tightened his grip on my arm. Everyone dove into the cars and Daryl pulled me into the truck with him. The ground began to shake as it was ripped apart by the explosion. I dove down into the seat and Daryl dove down on top of me. The back of my head was pressed up against his stomach as we heard and felt the explosion.

When everything was settled again, Daryl sat up slowly, letting me up. I saw the fires burning at the CDC and I tried not to think about Jacqui and Jenner. Daryl and I locked eyes and there was a sort of silent conversation going on between us.

"That's the second time you've saved my life," I said quietly.

Daryl snorted and sat up straight. He turned the truck on and we began to drive away from the burning building, leaving it far behind.


	11. 11: What Lies Ahead

We drove up the road for quite a while until Rick pulled the camper over. He said we'd make camp here for the night, and then move on to Fort Benning. I slept in the backseat of the station wagon while Carol and Sophia had the trunk. I figured Daryl didn't want to share his truck with me for any longer than he had to. The next morning, I helped T-Dog and Glenn siphon gas for the station wagon, camper, and Daryl's bike. We were dumping three of our cars.

It took anther full day of pulling everything we had together and the next morning, we were off. Daryl led the way on his motorcycle, Dale followed with the camper, and Rick drove the station wagon. Shane, Andrea, Glenn, and T-Dog stayed in the camper. Lori, Carl, Carol, Sophia, and I were in the station wagon. It was crowded but I got the trunk to myself and some of the luggage, so I ended up having enough room to stretch my legs.

"I was just thinking about our trip to the Grand Canyon." Lori said from the front seat. Rick laughed, and I turned myself around so that I was now facing the front.

"We went to the Grand Canyon?" Carl asked.

"You wouldn't remember it; you were just a baby." Rick said. "You got sick about halfway there. I didn't think a baby could throw up that much."

I snorted as Carl said, "Ew!"

Lori laughed. "You're right; ew! But the doctor said you'd be fine, so we turned around and went home."

"That sucks," Carl muttered.

"No, it was a good trip." Lori said. I settled back down, leaning against the pillow Lori had given me.

"Can we go to the Grand Canyon?" Sophia asked quietly. I imagined what the Gran Canyon looked like now. It could be crawling with Walkers or completely deserted. I tried to imagine telling Shane that we wanted to go to the Grand Canyon.

"We wouldn't go without you and your mom," Rick finally told her. Sophia rested her head on Carol's shoulder. We continued driving for probably another hour before the car slowed down to a stop. I twisted around so that I faced the front again. But all I could see was the back of the camper. We all saw Daryl circle around the camper before disappearing again. The camper inched slowly forward and we followed, and that's when we saw the cars.

This place was a cemetery on the highway. As we slowly moved forward, I saw cars that were empty and some that had dead bodies still in them. But I also saw large bags and boxes in those cars, which could mean more supplies. The caravan finally halted and we all got out of the car; I had some difficulty seeing as I had to climb over the back seat to get out. Carl and Sophia giggled at my struggle when I finally made it out, and I smirked at them before following their parents to where the camper had smoke coming out of the hood.

Shane was looking out at all the empty cars with a gleam in his eyes. "We can scavenge more supplies out of the cars. Siphon some gas." T-Dog went into the camper to grab the hose and red gas can for the fuel. Daryl began to shift through the trunk of a random car, not wasting any time with Shane's idea.

"This is a graveyard," Lori said quietly. I looked away from the highway cemetery to look back at her.

"It's necessary though," I said. Shane nodded in agreement with me and he separated everyone to go do different jobs. Dale and Glenn started working on the camper, Rick stood guard at the camper, Lori and Carol took the kids while they shifted through some bags in the cars, and T-Dog, Daryl and I were getting gas.

I was quickly able to break into the cars and pop open the covers for the gas tanks. T-Dog siphoned the gas and Daryl would help by busting open locked doors and making sure the area was secure. At one point when T-Dog was siphoning a new tank, something inside the car caught my eye. I stared hard at the dead girl sitting in the passenger seat; she looked familiar. Then I looked back down to her necklace and I immediately recognized the ring hung around the chain.

She had been my friend back home. Her name had been Carrie Barnes, she had graduated high school with me, we had had several college classes together. And that entire time she always wore that ring around her neck. By the looks of it, she had been trying to get away from civilization, just like what we were doing. I opened the car door and got in.

"Yankee!" T-Dog shouted from outside the car. "What're you doing?"

"Getting something," I mumbled before carefully pulling the necklace off of Carrie's body. Once the necklace was free, I paused for a second, looking at my friend's body with a numbness growing inside me. "I'm so sorry." I said quietly before leaving the car.

T-Dog didn't ask about the necklace in my hand, for which I was grateful. I tucked the necklace into my pocket and we found another car to siphon gas from. Our red tank was just about full, but it'd only be able to go into one of the vehicles, and then the camper would need probably five of these to get it completely full. Either way, we had a lot of work to do.

Daryl was circling around us, even though there wasn't really a threat of Walkers. The only Undead we came across were wandering around the sides of the road. But it made my job easier without having to worry about them, so I didn't bother talking to Daryl about it.

But all of a sudden, Daryl hissed at where I was standing, picking through some clothes. I only had time to glance over at him before he charged at me and slapped his mouth over my mouth. I made a noise of surprise as he dragged me to the ground and shoved me underneath a car. Then we were both under there and Daryl had half of his body on top of mine. I pulled his hand off my mouth and turned my head as much as I could to glare at him.

"What the hell?" I hissed. He shushed me and slammed his palm over my mouth as a pair of feet shuffled slowly past us. I froze in fear as the Walker moved slowly past us. Daryl slowly removed his hand from my mouth and we heard louder grunts, human noises of pain. "Shit, that's T," I hissed.

"Stay," Daryl growled, pushing his hand into my shoulder blade to emphasis his point. I watched him roll out from under the car and I watched his feet run in the direction of T-Dog's cries of pain. I noticed that he left his crossbow with me and I pulled it closer to me as more Walker feet shuffled past. I had no freaking clue how to use this thing, but that didn't mean I wouldn't try.

The Walkers were moving on either side of my car, and I clung to the crossbow as if it was life itself. Sweat formed on my forehead and dripped onto the ground. I managed to keep my breathing as calm as possible as more and more Walkers crept by slowly. It must've been several minutes until the last pair of feet limped past. I held my position for another minute before rolling out from under the car, Daryl's crossbow gripped in my hands.

Once I was back on my feet, I could see the Walkers' retreating heads continuing their march. I carefully crept back to where I had heard T-Dog's voice, holding the crossbow the same way I saw Daryl always holding it. I didn't get very far until I found Daryl helping T-Dog to his feet. I gasped at the sight of T-Dog's arm practically sliced open, blood soaking half of his short. I swung the crossbow over my shoulders and went to T-Dog's other side and the three of us made our way slowly back to the camper.

Glenn sagged in relief when he saw us come back, but then that relief was gone when he saw the shape T-Dog was in. Dale rushed forward and helped us get T-Dog into the camper. Shane, however, swooped down on me and Daryl, asking questions at a mile a minute.

"What happened? Was he bit? Did any Walkers smell him?" Shane fired at us.

"He cut his arm on a car." Daryl snapped. "And no, none of them smelled 'im."

"They'd be all over us if they smelled him." I said, trying to reason with Shane. He huffed and gave a jerk of his head before storming off. I exchanged a glance with Daryl, neither of us knowing exactly what that was about. Then I noticed Carol crying by the side of the road with Lori rubbing her shoulders. Upon further inspection, I saw that Rick and Sophia were no where to be found.


	12. 12: Confrontations

Rick came back without Sophia. Carol started bawling at the sight of him, and Rick left once more with Shane, Glenn, and Daryl. Lori helped Carol back into the camper while I took Carl and had him help me look for supplies.

"D'you think my dad will find her?" Carl asked me as I crawled out of the back of an empty car for a suitcase.

I unzipped the suitcase and glanced over to Carl. His small face was facing the ground and he looked devastated about his friend. I gave him a smile. "I'm sure your dad will find her. He's got the others with him; I'm sure they'll be back by nightfall with Sophia. And then she'll be talking your ear off about what she did."

Carl looked a little brighter at this thought. We continued to loot some supplies until Shane and Glenn emerged from the woods. Carl abandoned me and ran up to them, "Where's Sophia? Where's my dad? Did you find her?"

This noise got Carol's attention and she rushed over, asking similar questions. "Where's my daughter? Why isn't she with you?"

"Rick and Daryl on still on her trail." Shane said. "Rick sent us back to let y'all know that they're closing in on her." This news made Carol relax just a little bit, but she was still tearful as she went back inside the camper. T-Dog was slumped against the camper, his wound bandaged, but it was barely a good enough job. His arm definitely needed stiches, but no one had any experience stitching wounds. Carol had mentioned that she knew how to stitch, but she wasn't very good at it. Besides, Carol wasn't emotionally stable enough for stitching up arms.

I kept watch on top of the camper. Dale recruited Glenn into helping again, Lori was still with Carol inside, T-Dog was leaning against one of the cars, and Shane had taken Andrea to go find more supplies. We already had a pretty big pile going already, but Dale said we had to turn back in order to keep going forward. We needed as much supplies as possible. I glanced down at where Carl was sitting down at the pile, sorting through stuff.

"Carl, what're you doing?" I asked him. Carl looked up at me and shielded his eyes from the sun.

"I thought I could sort through the supplies," Carl replied. "See, look! I have the food in the back and the water gallons right next to that. And the tools are in front." I nodded in approval. I gave him a thumbs up, which the young boy returned.

As time went on, it was getting harder and harder to ignore the fact that Rick and Daryl still weren't back yet. Carol left the camper at some point to stand beside the road, right where Sophia had disappeared. Soon the sun was almost set and it stained the sky orange. I continued my watch on top of the camper until Shane called me back down.

"Where's my gun?" Andrea asked Dale, pretty loudly at that. Dale narrowed his eyes at her. Shane and I glanced at each other before moving closer to them.

"What's the problem?" Shane asked, forever acting like the cop.

"I want my gun back," Andrea fired at him. Shane glanced at Dale.

Dale met Shane's eyes evenly. "I don't feel comfortable with that." He muttered.

Shane turned back to Andrea and shrugged. "Look the less guns we have floating around camp, the better off we'll be."

"You handing over _your _weapon?" Andrea asked in a scathing voice. She glared over at me. "What about her? I'm at least ten years older than her and she still has her gun." I glanced down to where my gun was holstered to my thigh and narrowed my eyes at Andrea.

"Terry's informed me that she's trained with her gun." Shane said, looking like he was trying to keep a level head. "Right, Yankee?"

"Right," I said. Andrea glared at me before stalking off.

A few minutes after Andrea left, the bushes beside the road began rustling and Rick and Daryl emerged...without Sophia. Carol let out a loud, shuddering gasp at the sight of them. Everyone hurried over to the side of the road, greeting Rick and Daryl with worried looks. Carol looked like she was about to faint. "You didn't find her?" She asked softly.

"Her trail went cold," Rick said. "We'll pick it up again first light."

"You can't leave my daughter out there on her own," Carol continued.

"Trackin' in the dark's no good," Daryl said. "Just be trippin' over ourselves, more people gettin' lost." He was slurring his words more together, and I assumed that when he was tired he'd do that.

"But she's twelve!" Carol objected, her eyes no longer filled with tears but with a bright light. "She can't be there out on her own! You didn't find anything?"

"We tracked her for a while," Daryl said, taking a step forward.

Rick looked out at the rest of the group. "We have to make this an organized effort. Daryl knows the woods better than anybody; I've asked him to oversee this." He said the last part to Carol, but she was staring down at Daryl's pant leg.

"I-Is that blood?" She asked, pointing. Everyone instantly looked down at Daryl to see the large, dark red stain on his pants. Daryl looked back up at Carol.

"We took down a Walker," Rick said. "There was no sign that it was anywhere near Sophia."

"How could you know that?" Andrea asked, looking doubtful.

"We cut the sumbitch open," Daryl answered. Carol looked like she was about to faint and she sat down, looking up at Rick with deep dislike in her eyes.

"How could you just leave her there in the first place?" She asked angrily.

Rick blinked, looking extremely guilty. "Those two Walkers were on top of us. I had to lead them away from Sophia; it was her best chance."

I stepped forward at the sight of Rick flailing. "It sounds like there wasn't really a choice," I said. Shane, who was still standing beside me, nodded in agreement.

"Her best chance?" Carol repeated Rick. "How is she supposed to find her way back on her own? She's just a child."

"It was my only option," Rick said. "It was the only way I could keep her safe."

Carol started crying again. "My little girl got left in the woods," She mumbled before running into the camper. Lori gave Rick a look before following her friend. Slowly, the rest of the group scattered into our sleeping areas for the night. When it was only me, Rick, Shane, Glenn, and Daryl left, I turned to Rick.

"You did what was right, giving her the best chance," I said. Rick met my eyes and nodded, looking grateful for the support.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Rick handed me a hatchet. Carl had found an arsenal the day before, so instead of using guns, we were going to use these silent weapons. I still had my gun at my side; Shane and Rick had both agreed that if people were going to carry firearms, they needed to know how to use them first. This sent Andrea into a whirl of bitterness.<p>

Right before we left to search for Sophia, Andrea cornered Dale and began to loudly bully him for the gun back. "What d'you think is gonna happen? I'm gonna stick it in my mouth and pull the trigger the minute you hand it to me?"

I exchanged a look with the nearest person-Daryl-and we both glanced over to the heated confrontation going on by the camper. Dale was trying to reason with her. "I know you're angry with me, that much is clear. But if I hadn't done what I did, you'd be dead."

"Jenner gave us an option; I chose to stay."

"You chose suicide!"

"So what's that to you? You barely know me!"

"I know that Amy's death upset you-"

"Don't bring her into this. This isn't about Amy, this is about you and me, Dale. And if I decided that I had nothing left to live for, who the hell are you to tell me otherwise, to force my hand like that?"

Dale didn't answer right away. "I saved your life."

"No, I saved yours." Andrea snapped. "I didn't want your blood on my hands and that is the only reason I left that building. What did you expect, that I had some kind of epiphany?"

"Maybe just a little gratitude?"

"Gratitude? I wanted to die my way, not torn apart by drooling freaks, that was my choice! You took that away from me, Dale." She paused. "All I wanted after my sister died was to get out of this horrific nightmare we live in every day; I wasn't hurting anyone else. You took my choice away, Dale, and you expect _gratitude_?"

Dale stared at her. "I don't know what to say."

"I'm not your little girl," Andrea continued. "I'm not your wife, and I am sure as hell not your problem. That's all there is to say." And with that she stormed away from him and began to head into the woods. The rest of the group followed her, none of us bothering to look back at Dale.


	13. 13: Searching

Daryl was at the head of our line with Rick and I right behind him. Shane brought up the rear. Every now and then I'd glance over to in front of Daryl, trying to see what he was following, but whatever he saw, I couldn't see it. I made a mental note to ask him about him later. By the way Rick was glancing down at the ground, he didn't quite get what Daryl saw either.

We made our way slowly through the woods, and the sun beat down on us mercilessly. After what felt like several minutes, we finally reached a shaded area and Daryl made a hand gesture for everyone to drop. I quickly squatted down with everyone else and I saw why Daryl had stopped the group: there was a tent with lain out supplies in front of it.

Rick, Shane, and Daryl inched forward until they were a little ways away from the tent entrance, but Daryl pulled out a large hunting knife and positioned himself outside of the tent. I watched as he moved slowly around the tent, trying to see if anyone was in there. When he turned to Rick with a shrug, Rick called Carol over to them. I heard Carol gulp as she slowly approached the men.

After a moment, Carol called out, "Sophia? Sweetie, it's mommy. Sophia we're all here, honey." There wasn't a response. Rick nodded at Daryl. Daryl disappeared into the tent and came back out a full minute later.

"Wasn't her." Daryl reported. "Some guy, he did what Jenner said: opted out." I shuddered at the thought and we continued down the trail for a few minutes before a completely strange noise filled the air: the sound of church bells.

Back before the world ended, the sound of church bells were normal. But now, it sent everyone into a frenzy of unease.

"Who'd be ringing bells?" Glenn asked.

"It could be somebody signaling that they found her," I suggested, imagining what would happen if Sophia found another group.

"Or it could be Sophia herself," Rick said before running in the direction of the sound. But after a minute of running, the bells stopped and we were left breathless and circling the woods. We stopped to rest and Shane mentioned the fact that the sound could be echoing all around the mountains. I groaned at the fact; we could end up chasing echoes.

The church bells started again and we burst off into another run. It wasn't long until we burst out of the woods and into a small graveyard right behind a tiny white church. The bells had stopped a little while back but that didn't stop us from tearing across the graveyard and up to the church. Rick, Shane, and Daryl took up the front and opened the doors. I peered over Shane's shoulder and felt the sting of disappointment when I saw three Walkers sitting in the pews, but no Sophia.

Rick, Shane, and Daryl each took a Walker and they quickly killed them. I led the rest of the group inside. I overheard Shane telling Rick that this couldn't be the church we heard because there wasn't a steeple. Just after he said the words, loud, booming bells sounded right above us. Everyone rushed outside to the source of the noise. Glenn got to it first and shut off the noise, sweating and panting. "It's a timer." Glenn said breathlessly.

"I think I need to go inside for a bit," Carol said, hurrying away from the group. Slowly, people started to follow her, going inside to the shade after our frantic run through the woods. Carol went straight to the front of the church, kneeling down and bending her head. I took a seat in a pew and leaned back, trying to catch my breath.

For a while, all we could hear was Carol praying quietly to herself. I tried not to listen; eavesdropping on someone's prayers seemed like the complete wrong thing to do. But after a while, the atmosphere of the small church became too stiff for me, and I stepped back outside into the bright sun. No one else was out here, and I seemed to breath a bit easier with the lack of people around.

"What're you doin'?"

I jumped at the sound of Daryl's voice and I turned around to see him standing on the porch. His blue eyes were narrowed and he was watching me carefully, as if he wasn't sure if he could trust me.

"I couldn't breathe in there," I answered honestly. "I came out here for some air." Daryl nodded with a grunt and he glanced over his shoulder at the closed doors of the church. "What about you?"

Daryl narrowed his eyes at me again. He seemed like he was debating whether or not to answer me. But then he said, "Same as you," We met each other's eyes for a long second before the doors opened and the rest of the group filed out. Daryl moved over to the side as Rick stood at the top of the steps, looking down on the rest of us.

"Shane and I are going to take just south of here," Rick said. "Daryl will lead the rest of y'all around and back up to the highway. Between the two groups, we should make a full circle." Daryl nodded in agreement and didn't waste any time heading off. The group scrambled after him. I brought up the rear, and I glanced over my shoulder to see Carl head off with Rick and Shane. Lori caught up and she fell into pace with me.

"Carl's going with them?" I asked, trying to make conversation.

Lori nodded and I could see the worried expression on her face. "He wants to find Sophia." She said shortly, leaving it at that. I nodded and we caught up to the others just as they reentered the tree line.

Daryl led us through the sections of the woods where the underbrush was thickest. The small bushes and roots tangled at my feet and it seemed that the underbrush was slowing everyone down. That is everyone except Daryl, who was still moving through the brush as if it was nothing. I hurried to catch up to him; I had to lift my feet higher and take longer strides so by the time I was caught up, I was also sweating even more than before.

"Where are you leading us exactly?" I asked through gritted teeth. Daryl glanced at me briefly before halting. He quickly gestured the others to continue their march. We got sharp glances but Daryl completely ignored them.

He pointed a loose arrow at the ground. "See that?" He asked gruffly. I peered at the earth and just saw thickly grown bushes. I shook my head at Daryl, who huffed. He squatted and motioned for me to do the same. Once we were on the same level, Daryl pointed again with the arrow, and this time I saw the broken green stems on some of the brush; they seemed to be going in the same direction.

"They're goin' that way; you can tell by how fresh them stems are." Daryl explained. "And judgin' by how far 'part they are, whoever made 'em is 'bout Sophia's size."

"Are you two done?" Andrea snapped. Daryl and I stood up and we began to walk back towards the others. Andrea kept her eyes narrowed on us as she took up behind us, as if she suspected we'd stop again.

"Where'd you learn how to track like that?" I asked.

Daryl threw me a side glance. "Worry 'bout that after we find that little girl." He sped up and I narrowed my eyes at his back; what was that about? I shook my head as we finally made it out of the underbrush. Soon after that, a gunshot rang through the air and the group halted.


	14. 14: The Greene Farm

Lori stopped again for the third time. I looked back at her. "Lori, I'm sure they're fine. They probably ran into a Walker." Lori turned back to me with that wide-eyed, worried expression she had been wearing ever since she separated from Rick and Carl.

"You know as well as I do that Rick wouldn't waste one bullet on a Walker," Lori said. "Neither would Shane; they'd do it quietly."

"We can't go chasing after them though," I attempted reason. "You saw how hard it was to find the church. We'd just be chasing echoes."

"The Yank's right, let's keep movin'," Daryl said from the front of the group. Lori looked like she wanted to argue but she turned around and walked right to the front of the group. Glenn, who had been standing near me, gave me a look and I shrugged. We brought up the rear as we continued up the slope.

The tracks we'd been following in the thick brush had belonged a short Walker. In death, I couldn't tell if she had been a small adult or a teenager or a preteen. The thought made my stomach churn and I heard Carol make a small noise of pain. She had been thinking the same thing as me. Daryl took it down without a second thought.

We continued on for a few minutes before we stopped again. Lori sat down on a log to tie her shoe and, seeing that we stopped again, Daryl let out a loud and impatient sigh. I leaned against a tree, on a higher point than the others to keep an eye out. Andrea glanced up at me and frowned.

"Are you planning on using your gun to take a Walker down?" She asked. I looked down at her and narrowed my eyes.

"No," I said. "That's what the blades are for."

Andrea snorted. She looked between me and Lori, who was the only other person to carry a gun. "Why is it Rick's favorites get the guns?" She was glaring at both me and Lori, but she seemed to be addressing everyone else. Glenn had an eyebrow raised at her, Daryl kept his face completely shut off from emotion, and Carol looked shocked at what Andrea was suggesting.

Lori glared viciously at Andrea. She stood up with the gun and held it out for her. "If you want it, take it. I'm sick of the way you're looking at me and Terry." Andrea narrowed her eyes at Lori but took the small gun anyway. Lori turned her gaze over to Carol. "And honey, I can't imagine what you're going through but you have _got _to stop blaming Rick." Carol opened her mouth to argue but Lori cut her off. "It is in your face every time you look at him." She looked around at everyone now. "I don't know if anyone else would've run after Sophia the way he did. If you guys think you could do any better, go right ahead. No one is stopping you!"

There was a moment of silence in which Andrea handed Lori the gun back. An with tense moment behind us, we continued on our march, but I kept feeling Andrea's bitter gaze on my back. Andrea was starting to annoy me, between her bitter looks and her persistence of firearms, she appeared to be stepping on several people's toes.

Daryl began to lead us back to the highway as the sun started to sink. And, as I was starting to realize was a norm, Andrea was complaining. "How much further?"

"'Bout a hundred yards, as the crow flies," Daryl said, stepping over a group of bushes that were in his way. I rolled my eyes at the expression and I wanted to point out to him that we weren't crows. Andrea said just as much as she fell to the back of the group. We were only walking for another minute before we heard Andrea screaming. I looked back and saw that she wasn't behind us. The screaming was somewhere behind the trees.

Daryl charged through the group and ran towards Andrea. Glenn and I ran after him. The screams stopped abruptly and for a moment I thought that we were too late to save her. But when we crashed through the bushes and trees we saw the Walker on the ground, Andrea sitting on the earth, and a stranger on horseback holding a baseball bat.

"Lori Grimes?" She asked Andrea.

"What?" Lori asked, looking up at the girl with shock. The girl turned to Lori and asked for her name. Lori nodded in confirmation.

"You have to come with me; Carl's been shot."

I felt the hair on my arms stick up straight. "What?" Lori asked, looking terrified.

"He's going to be fine but you need to come with me now." The girl repeated. Lori shrugged off her backpack and forced it into my hands. She carefully climbed onto the horse, much to Daryl's frustration.

"You can't get on that horse!" He shouted. "You can't go with that girl!"

"The name's Maggie Greene!" The girl said. "Y'all are on the highway? Go two miles down and you'll find a mailbox leading to a driveway. Go on that and you'll find a farm, that's where we'll be." And with that, she kicked the horse into motion and she and Lori rode off. There was a moment of silence in which we all just stared off at where Lori and this Maggie Greene disappeared.

The Walker sat up, groaning for food. Daryl pointed his crossbow at it. "Shut up," He snapped before launching an arrow into the Walker's head.

* * *

><p>The sky was turning orange as we tried to figure out what to do next. Maggie had told us to go to that farm of hers, but that would mean leaving Sophia behind. I imagined what Sophia would feel if she came back and we were no where in sight. It'd be devastating for a little kid. I said that much and Carol nodded fast, agreeing with me on the spot.<p>

"Then some of us will stay here and some of us will go," Andrea said.

Dale gave her a sharp look. "We're scattered enough as it is! We can't separate even more than we already are!"

"Yeah, but they're expecting us at the farm." I said. "If we stay they'll think something went wrong and they come back here. Besides, T-Dog needs proper medicine like you said; maybe that farm has some." Daryl had given T-Dog some of Merle's drugs, but he needed _real_ medicine. Dale stared at me, but even he couldn't argue with that logic.

"I'll stay with the R.V tonight," Daryl said. "Tomorrow I'll make a sign for Sophia."

"If the R.V's staying, so am I," Dale said immediately. Carol automatically said that she'd stay too. Andrea agreed to stay to. I glanced over at T-Dog.

"I'll take him to that farm," I said. "We'll take the station wagon."

Glenn stepped forward. "You can't go alone so I'll go too."

"In that case, we better go before it gets too dark." I said, looking up at the sky, which had turned into a dark orange. Glenn, T-Dog, and I didn't waste any time collecting our things and loading them into the station wagon. T-Dog took the backseat and Glenn was starting up the car, and as I approached the passenger seat, Daryl tossed me the bag of Merle's drugs.

"There," He said gruffly. "In case those farmers don't have the medicine you think they've got."

"They have Carl," I said, shrugging. "They must have something there."

Daryl shrugged. "Whatever. Be careful though, don't let your guard down and scope out the place, make sure it's safe." I nodded and Daryl seemed satisfied, so he left. I blinked after him and got into the car. If I didn't know any better, I would say that Daryl actually cared about what happened to me.

We drove for a while until we found the mailbox Maggie had mentioned. Glenn turned down it and I heard T-Dog coughing violently in the backseat. I desperately hoped that Maggie had some sort of medicine at her farm; T-Dog's infection was getting worse despite Merle's drugs. We came across a gate and I got out to help Glenn open it. Once we were through, we got out again to close it back up. From there, it was a straight shot to this farm.

The farm was the most peaceful looking place I had seen since the apocalypse. Although it was dark outside, I could see the wide open fields and the large buildings scattered on the property. There was a barn, a horse stable, a large house, and a few other small structures. "Whoa," Glenn breathed. We exchanged a look before we got out of the parked car.

T-Dog shuffled behind me and Glenn as we slowly approached the house. "Should we knock?" Glenn asked. I shrugged.

Luckily, we didn't have to knock because the door swung open and that girl-Maggie Greene-stepped out onto the porch. Glenn's eyes got wide as he stared up at the girl and she watched us all carefully. Her eyes rested on T-Dog and she narrowed her eyes at the bandage.

"He didn't get bit," I explained. "He got cut really bad though; he's got a killer infection." I held up the drugs Daryl gave me. "We have these, and we weren't sure if they'd help." Maggie stepped forward and took the drugs from me with a smile.

"We got some more in the kitchen. Follow me; I'll help 'im," Maggie said. Glenn, T-Dog, and I followed her and, per Daryl's request, I looked around the farm before we went in. There was a wire fence circling the property and there wasn't a Walker in sight. I'd have to do a more thorough search when it was lighter. But until then, this farm seemed as secure as it was going to get.


	15. 15: Pile of Stones

A woman named Patricia was stitching up T-Dog's arm. Glenn watched with a queasy look on his face while Maggie brought Patricia whatever she needed. I stayed for a while before ducking into the next bedroom where the Grimes family sat.

Carl looked so small, lying there on that bed. Lori was bent over, resting her forehead on the bed and holding her son's limp hands. Rick was right beside Lori, keeping one of his hands on her back. He gave me a weak smile before I left; this was a family matter, and I had no business snooping in on their personal trauma.

Maggie's sister, a seventeen year old named Beth, found me a blanket and pillow to use for the night. I thanked her and just used the pillow to lie down on the couch. Beth did the same for both T-Dog and Glenn, both of them looking like they were about to fall asleep on their feet. T-Dog took the second couch and fell asleep in just two minutes. Glenn sat his pillow and blanket down before going outside. I yawned widely and allowed myself to relax.

About an hour later, Carl took a turn for the worse. I launched myself off the couch when the man-Hershel-started to prepare the operation for Carl. I stared at the window anxiously; they had sent Shane out for supplies hours ago. He should be back by now. Suddenly, I saw a pair of headlights appear from the distance. I hurried into the room. "Rick!"

Hershel kept Patricia in the room as he, Rick, Lori, and I hurried outside. Glenn and Maggie were already on the porch. A blue truck pulled up and Shane limped out of it, carrying two large duffel bags across his shoulders. Hershel looked around Shane before asking, "Otis?" Shane let out a shaky breath before shaking his head. Hershel and Maggie both froze and the looks of grief filled their faces. But then Hershel forced himself to stiffen. "No one tell Patricia; I need her help!" He took the bags from Shane and he and Maggie rushed back inside.

Rick was consoling Shane. "There were too many of them," Shane said softly, visibly shaking. We all waited outside for a long time, and I wished that I had a way to tell time again. After what felt like the longest hour and a half of my life, Hershel came back outside. We all stood up, bracing ourselves for the worst of news. But Hershel gave Rick and Lori a smile and the knot in my stomach lifted.

"He seems stable," Hershel said kindly. Rick stepped forward and embraced the older man while Lori's eyes showed signs of tears.

"I don't have words," Lori said gratefully. Hershel's smile faded away just a little bit.

"I don't either," He said. "What am I to tell Patricia?" Rick blinked and looked at Lori.

"You go to Carl, I'll go with Hershel," Rick said. He followed Hershel back inside and we all trudged in after him. As Shane went upstairs to shower, I heard Patricia's cries of heartache.

That night Rick and Lori slept in Carl's room. T-Dog was still passed out on the couch and showed no signs of waking up. Glenn, after moving around the living room awkwardly, chose the reclining chair to sleep in. I was lying back down on my couch when Shane came back downstairs from his shower. His head was completely shaved.

* * *

><p>I got up around seven o'clock, according to the clock sitting on the mantle in the living room. It was bizarre having the ability to tell time again, and even more bizarre when I realized that this was the latest I had slept in a long time. T-Dog and Glenn were already awake and outside. I hurried to wake myself up, not wanting to be lazy.<p>

I found where my friends went with Beth and her boyfriend, Jimmy. The three men were collecting rocks from around the yard while Beth watched, looking withdrawn. I walked over to them. "What's going on here?" I asked.

"We're gettin' stones for Otis's grave, ma'am." Jimmy answered, giving me a polite nod. I blinked at the word ma'am and wandered around the yard, picking up any rocks that seemed suitable. Shane came out of the house a little while after I started and joined us, but there wasn't much left by the time he joined in. And right as Jimmy and T-Dog were about to go take the rocks to where Otis's grave would be, we heard the rumble of a motorcycle.

Daryl was leading the rest of the group here. I smiled at the fact that we would soon all be together again. Now we just had to find Sophia and everything would be at ease. Soon, after everyone reunited, we all marched over to where Hershel deemed Otis's grave would be.

One by one, Patricia, Maggie, Beth, Jimmy, and Hershel stepped forward to place a stone on the marker. The rest of us circled around, knowing we had to be here but also not knowing exactly what to do for another group's grief. As the pile of rocks began to grow, Hershel stopped his own picking of the stones and started to recite different prayers. Patricia, Maggie, Beth, and Jimmy continued to give more stones to the pile. At the end of Hershel's eulogy, the stone pile was taller than I originally imagined it. Patricia had tears streaming down her face and the others looked either numb or barely holding back emotion.

Hershel turned to Shane. "Shane, you were there in his last moments. Would you say something?"

Shane looked baffled. "Um, nah, I've never been good..."

"You were there with him," Patricia said through a sob. "I need to know his death had meaning." All eyes were on Shane, who was beginning to shuffle his feet.

He sighed loudly. "We were both down to our last rounds. An entire herd was right behind us. 'You gotta save the boy,' that's what he said. He gave me his bag and told me to go ahead; that he'd cover me. When I turned 'round-" He broke off and a fresh wave of tears came for Patricia. Shane looked down at the ground.

Rick led our group back down to the house so that Hershel could have some moments alone with his people. Once we were back, Rick chose a patch of land right underneath a patch of pecan trees that provided lots of shade. The camper was already parked right next to these trees, so Rick had everyone grab their tent and pitch a spot. Glenn and T-Dog shared a tent while Andrea and Carol shared another. Dale got his camper to himself and Shane and Daryl both got their own tents. I took the smallest tent, knowing I wouldn't be sharing and I set my stuff down right between two of the trees.

When we almost done setting up camp, Hershel led his people back into their house. Hershel and Maggie walked right up to us, but Patricia had to helped back into the house. I watched her carefully and couldn't help but wonder how it must feel, to love someone so much and then to lose them so abruptly. I had only seen it happen to Andrea, Carol, and now Patricia; all three of them had fallen apart. I only hoped that something like that never happened to me.

Rick, Shane, Andrea, Daryl, Hershel, Maggie, and I gathered around the hood of the blue truck that had once belonged to Otis. Maggie had brought a map with her and she spread it out in front of everyone. Rick smiled widely. "Finally; now we can start to get more organized. We'll start here," He pointed to the creek located on the map.

Hershel blinked at him. "You're not goin' anywhere. You gave three units of blood last night; you wouldn't make it five minutes in this heat." He turned over to Shane. "And that ankle of yours could get you even more hurt if you push it." Rick and Shane glanced at each other but they were forced to give in to Hershel's medical advice.

"Looks like it's just me and the Yankee, then," Daryl said. I looked up and blinked. Rick and Shane were both looking at Daryl with surprised expressions on their faces. Obviously they hadn't expected Daryl to want company while he searched. Daryl ignored their looks and turned to me. "That is if you think you can keep up."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "I can keep up." I assured him.

Daryl nodded curtly. "Then let's go." And with that he walked off towards the trees. I glanced over to Rick and Shane, still blindsided that Daryl wanted to be alone with me. But they didn't say anything as I left the truck and started to hurry after Daryl. When I finally caught up to him, he didn't say anything. So we walked in silence as we trudged through the field and into the woods.

After a while, I decided that it seemed like he was leading me in circles. "What are we following exactly?" I asked, finally frustrated with the silence. Daryl glanced at me from over his shoulder before pointing to the ground with his crossbow. I looked from the ground and back up to him. "Whatever you're seeing, I can't."

"The way the leaves have been shifted," Daryl said. "Someone 'bout Sophia's size made those. We're followin' that." He turned back around and continued on, keeping his eyes on the ground. I rolled my eyes and followed.

After several minutes of silence in the woods, the curiosity as to why I was really there was starting to bug me. Daryl liked solitude; he never would've invited me to come along if he didn't think he had any gain in it. So finally, I cleared my throat. "Why'd you bring me out here?" I asked.

He didn't answer right away, and for a second I thought he was going to pretend like he couldn't hear me. But then he stopped walking, though his eyes were still on the ground. "You said you wanted to track, right?" He asked.

I narrowed my eyes. "Barely. But you're still avoiding my question."

"I answered your question when I asked that question." Daryl said, looking back around to me. I met his eyes evenly and we held it there for what could've been seconds or minutes. But then Daryl turned away and broke the trance. "Now c'mon; we're wastin' time. We should be lookin' for Sophia." I took a step forward so that I was at his side now.

"You said you were going to teach me to track. So teach, Hick." I said. Daryl rolled his eyes at me, but I could've sworn I saw him smiling.


	16. 16: Treacherous

The tracks led to a dead end. When that trail proved to be a bust, Daryl headed back to the creek and we walked along the creekbed for a long time. Every now and then, Daryl would point something out to me, such as some crawfish holes and squirrel tracks. He told me how to tell which tracks were stale and which were fresh. And when we went back into the thick foliage of the forest, he pointed out how to tell what animal droppings were fresh and if that meant we could continue looking for the animal. But we were still searching for Sophia, so we continued trudging through the woods.

Eventually, we reached a clearing with a two story house in the center. Daryl shrugged his crossbow from off his shoulder and got it ready for a fight. I followed his lead and unsheathed my hatchet that I required from the highway cemetery. We carefully entered the house and Daryl gestured for me to take a room to the left.

With nervous butterflies in my stomach, I slowly opened the door to the room with my hatchet ready. Dust thickly coated the room and just by one look, I could tell that no one had been here for a long time. I made my way slowly around the room, making sure that it was safe. But just like I thought, the room was completely empty. I moved on to the next room and got a completely different feel of it.

There wasn't as much dust in here. And the dust that was in here had been shifted around. Something bright caught my eye in the trashcan and I looked down to it and found a can of cat food. It was empty except for the last remains of the filmy juice. I raised my eyes to the cracked pantry door and carefully walked over to it. I opened it, expecting a Walker at the least. But there wasn't anything in there, just a pile of pillows and blankets.

I called Daryl into the kitchen and showed him the nest I found. "Maybe Sophia curled up here for the night?" I suggested.

Daryl grunted, telling me that he agreed with me. But we searched the rest of the house and found no other signs of Sophia. Disappointed, we left the house and began to head back for the woods when Daryl veered off to a large bush with fat, white flowers blossoming. I followed him, sheathing my hatchet and looking over his shoulder at the pretty flowers.

"What kind are they?" I asked.

"Cherokee Rose," Daryl said shortly, wrapping his fingers around a stem and pulling. The rose was ripped from the bush and Daryl kept staring at it with a peculiar look on his face. I had a feeling that they had some sort of meaning to him, but I didn't bother pushing it. If Daryl was going to tell me about the special flower, he would've done so already.

I found an empty beer bottle by the house and before we left the clearing, I gave him the bottle. Daryl frowned at me. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"It's for the flower," I explained. Daryl stuck the plant into the bottle and snorted. "It's not the best vase but it'll do."

"Say that again," Daryl said sharply.

I blinked. "It's not the best vase but it'll do?" Daryl huffed loudly and I felt my face heat up when I realized that he was laughing. "What's so funny?"

"It's v_a_se," He said, stretching the "a" in the word. "You said v_ah_se." My face heated up even more when I realized that he was poking fun at my northern accent. Daryl saw the look on my face and he laughed again. I found myself smirking along with him; the sound of Daryl's laughter was so rare that it seemed funny to see him actually be amused. Daryl looked back at me. "What did you call Coke before all this?"

"If you're referring to the drug, it's still coke." I said, knowing exactly what he was getting at. "And I called soda, pop." Daryl snorted loudly again and, with the tension that had resided between us gone, we walked beside each other, both a little more at ease with the other's presence.

* * *

><p>That night Patricia and Beth brought a large amount of food out to the camp. My mouth watered at the sight of chicken, corn, slices of buttered bread. Dale, Carol, T-Dog, and Andrea took their food inside the camper to eat, and everyone else ate in their own spots. I sat beside the fire and slowly chewed the perfectly cooked chicken. From where I was sitting, I could see where Rick and Lori were eating their meal on the porch where they could stay close to Carl. Shane had disappeared into his tent and he probably wouldn't come out until morning. As for Glenn, he seemed to be following Maggie around a lot lately.<p>

Daryl had his own plate and he joined me by the fire. He gave me a jerk of his head, indicating a greeting. I nodded back. Daryl and I appeared to be getting more along now. The good thing about Daryl was that once you got used to him, he was easy enough to get along with. He was quiet most of the time, preferring to observe, and this made him an easy presence for me to hang around.

The next morning, everyone gathered around the blue truck for another strategy for looking for Sophia. Rick assigned Andrea and T-Dog to one quadrant, himself and Shane to another, and then me and Daryl to weave around in between. As everyone got ready to leave, Daryl made me sit on a bench outside of the horse stable.

"I'm gonna go ahead," He said. "You wait ten minutes, then start trackin'."

"One lesson and you think I can track you through the woods?"

Daryl snorted. "You want to learn, right?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Then just shut up and do it," Daryl said shortly, ending the conversation. I shook my head at him as he took one of the horses. And then he was gone and I began my ten minute wait.

I started off by counting to sixty. But after the third or fourth time of counting to sixty, I lost count and track of the time. I wandered around the stable, looking at the remaining horses and the tools that were kept on the wall in here. Finally, after what felt like a proper amount of waiting, I left the barn and headed into the same direction Daryl and the horse went.

It was a good thing that Daryl had taken a horse, the tracks were much easier to follow than Daryl's. It seemed like this was going to lead me straight to Daryl. There were some difficulties when the horse had traveled over smooth stone, and that alone made me circle the entire area until I found where the horse tracks started again. I was curious as to how long I had been searching for Daryl, but my thoughts were shut off when a horse came crashing out of the woods.

I dove to the side and made it just in time to avoid being crushed by the horse. It thundered past with a frightened whinny and continued its mad dash through the woods. I stood up slowly and looked at the spot where it disappeared. Whatever happened, that horse was seriously freaked out. I looked at where it came from; that was Daryl's horse, but where was Daryl?

I started where the horse came, hurrying through the woods, looking for any signs of Daryl. But I couldn't find him anywhere. I took another step and yelped when it landed on empty air. I quickly grabbed onto a tree branch and I managed to stay footed. I looked down the steep cliff and I could see the tiny beach right next to a fast-paced river. And moving, extremely slow, was Daryl, crawling onto the muddy beach.

"Daryl!" I shouted. I saw his head slowly move up to look at me. He raised one arm weakly before standing up; even from this distance, I could see an arrow sticking out of his side. I covered my mouth as he slowly got to his feet with the help of a branch. I saw his crossbow dangling loosely from his arm and he began to climb the steep cliff.

At first I was tempted to go and help but every time I made a move to do so, Daryl would shout up at me to stop. So I watched, impatient and extremely worried, as Daryl slowly and painfully climbed. I crouched down, ready to grab onto him the second he got close enough. He was already halfway up.

He swung himself to the next branch but it snapped under his weight. I screamed in horror as Daryl tried in vain to grab a new tree but he fell anyway. The sound of crashing debris filled my ears as Daryl tumbled back down to the muddy beach. I gasped in horror and grabbed on tightly to the nearest tree. Carefully putting one foot in front of the other, I managed to climb down the cliff. There were times where I would lose my footing and slide, but there were several trees that caught me. And finally, I was down on steady ground.

I hurried over to Daryl's body, and I felt intense fear coarse through me. Daryl couldn't be dead, he just couldn't. I pressed my fingers against his throat, right underneath his chin, and I sagged in relief when I felt his heartbeat. I pulled open one of his eyelids, and his eye didn't bother trying to move. I closed the eye again and made sure he was breathing again.

Glancing up at the top of the cliff, I couldn't imagine carrying Daryl all the way back up there. He was way taller than me and he was mostly muscle. So I untangled the crossbow strap from his arm and swung the weapon around my back. I could try and go back to the farm, but Daryl could die out here alone. I dropped back down to my knees and inspected the arrow lodged straight through him; by the looks of it, he had already bound the wound as best as he could.

I unsheathed my hatchet and took up a guard near Daryl. If I couldn't move him, or even heal him, then I was going to make sure nothing happened to him while he was passed out. I took off my flannel shirt, revealing the dark gray tank top underneath, and bunched it up before setting it under Daryl's head. His crossbow still hung on my back, and I was surprised by the weight of it. It had seemed so light the way Daryl always carried it.

"Merle,"

I spun around at the sound of Daryl's voice. His head was moving slightly and his eyes were half opened. "Daryl?" I asked softly.

"We were comin' back," Daryl muttered. "All you had to do was wait..."

I quickly realized that Daryl was seeing his brother. I sighed; this seemed to be a good sign. At least he was talking again. I left his side as he continued muttering nonsense and I took up my position of guard again. I heard him say things like, "Ain't nobody's bitch", "Little girl got lost", and "Shut up".

I could only imagine what kind of conversation Daryl was having with his brother.

Suddenly, the trees on the other side of the river. I tightened my grip on the hatchet. A Walker appeared from the tree line and started towards me. I was prepared to take it down when another Walker appeared, and another, and two more.

A chill swept over me as the five Walkers groaned and began right toward me and Daryl. I quickly glanced over my shoulder at Daryl, who was still moving slightly on the ground. "Daryl, if you're going to wake up you better do it _now_!" I hissed at him. He shifted slightly in response.

The first Walker was close now, its arms outstretched. With shaking legs, I quickly ducked under its arms and swung the hatchet at its head. The skull cracked and the Walker fell to the ground. I dislodged my hatchet as quickly as I could as the other four Walkers quickly approached. I darted to the side and three of the Walkers followed, but one ignored me and went straight for Daryl.

"Hey!" I screamed. "Hey! Over here!" But the Walker ignored me again and began gnawing on Daryl's shoe. My vision was blocked by one of my three Walkers. I shouted in surprise and swung the hatchet at another Walker, killing it. I backed up until my feet met water and soon I was thigh-deep in the murky water. The two Walkers advanced even faster and they were almost on top of me. I ducked under another one's arms and buried the hatchet into its skull.

The hatchet was buried too deep into the Walker's brain, I couldn't get it out. I continued to move away from the Walker, the water now up to my chest. I was just out of reach of the beast, it's fingertips were just brushing my shoulders. The muddy beach was out of sight and I couldn't see anything beyond this Walker's decomposed face.

And then suddenly, my feet couldn't touch the bottom of the river, and I fell down into the water, disappearing into the darkness.


	17. 17: Secrets

I burst from the water with a loud gasp for air. My lungs felt like they were on fire. The Walker had quickly followed me into the deep, but I was able to swim against the current and resurface. I turned around with difficulty and I saw the Walker's head bob away as the current forced it away. I sagged in relief and struggled against the current. I needed to get back to the muddy beach. The last I saw of Daryl, that Walker had been getting at Daryl's shoe. If he died because I couldn't get to him...

Daryl was standing up when I swam back. I saw the one Walker laying dead with an arrow sticking awkwardly out of its forehead. I clambered onto the beach and expected Daryl to say something, but he was swaying and muttering under his breath. I sighed and adjusted the crossbow strap on my chest. It appeared that Daryl still thought Merle was right here with him. But then he started to climb the cliff again.

"What the hell?" I hissed, hurrying after him. "You do realize that there's probably another way of getting back up there?" Daryl ignored me and continued to climb. I shook my head and walked down the muddy beach, allowing Daryl to take his climb. I walked away from the steep cliff and made my way down river, feeling naked without my long-sleeved shirt and hatchet. I found the Walker that had my weapon of choice buried in its head and, with some difficulty, I wrested it out of the skull.

I found a trail a little ways away that was a more gentler slope than the one Daryl was climbing right now. I made it to the top and found the spot where Daryl fell, and there he was, almost to the top and shouting at someone who wasn't there.

"I said _shut up_!" Daryl shouted, looking just past me. He swung himself to the next tree and it bent under his weight. I gritted my teeth and squatted down, trying to get closer to him.

"Just a little bit more," I said quietly. Daryl looked up and his eyes focused on me for the first time. His footing slipped and he almost tumbled back down the cliff. Right as he started to slip, I launched myself forward and grabbed his wrists. My own body started slipping and I hurried to wrap one of my ankles around a tree root. Daryl continued to slip and by association, so did I. I felt a sharp pop in my ankle and I let out a cry of pain. Daryl used his feet to dig back into the ground and scrambled up. I pulled his wrists until Daryl had his hands back on solid ground.

We laid on the dirt for a long moment. I untangled my ankle from the tree root and sat up, wincing from the pain shooting up my leg. Daryl scrambled to his feet, still swaying. He looked out furiously out at the forest. "Yeah, you better run!" He shouted. I groaned as I slowly stood back up. Daryl glanced over at me. "Where've you been?"

I glared up at him. "Shut up," I muttered before limping in the direction of the farm. Daryl followed me, having to stop every now and then to keep from falling over. With every step, pain was shooting up my leg, and eventually I had to lean heavily against a tree. Daryl stopped as well and looked over at me.

"D'you need help?" He asked.

"No," I said through gritted teeth. I left the tree and continued on, Daryl snorting behind me. I turned to look at him over my shoulder. "Is there something you want to say?" I asked. Daryl narrowed his eyes at me and shook his head. We continued on until we finally broke the tree line and I could see the house from where we were standing. Daryl caught up to me and we slowly started to walk across the field.

Our presence apparently alerted the people back at camp, because a crowd of figures were coming right towards us. As they got closer, I saw that it was Rick, Shane, Glenn, and T-Dog. They had their weapons drawn and for the first time I realized how Daryl and I probably looked. I trudged faster, getting ahead of Daryl as the group of men stopped running. Rick held his gun up to Daryl's head while Shane prepared to swing his ax at me. They all froze.

"Is that Daryl and Terry?" Glenn asked.

I nodded, and Shane lowered his ax. Daryl snorted loudly. "That's the second time you pointed a gun to my head." Rick finally lowered his gun and looked like he was about to ask about what the hell happened to us. But a shot rang out and suddenly Daryl was on the ground. Rick started screaming and I tried to scramble over to help, but my injured ankle sent a long jolt of pain straight up my body and I almost fell into the ground, but T-Dog acted quickly and caught me.

Rick and Shane took either side of Daryl and began to drag him back to the house. He had just been grazed, so he'd live. I tried to walk after them, but T-Dog practically picked me up and carried me after them. We were only moving for a second when Glenn started talking, "Guys, isn't this Sophia's?" He was holding up the doll that had been tucked into Daryl's belt.

Hershel hurried us into his house and he had Daryl set in one bedroom, and me in the one next door. He went straight to work on Daryl, seeing that his wounds were more serious than mine. Patricia came for me, carefully rolling up my jeans so that she could look at my ankle. Rick and Shane walked in after her to check on me, and they stiffened at the sight of my ankle. I gritted my teeth at the sight of my ankle completely swollen. Purple bruises ringed around my ankle. Patricia shook her head, "What'd you do to break it this bad?"

"I stopped Daryl from falling off a cliff," I said. Shane snorted in amusement and Rick raised his eyebrows. Patricia quickly wrapped up my ankle with an ice pack and I gritted my teeth against the tight pressure she was applying. Rick laid out one of the maps on the bed next to me and he started asking where Daryl found the doll. I looked down at the map and quickly found that extremely steep cliff that Daryl tumbled down twice. I pointed to it. "There, right along the river bank. Is he okay?"

"He's still out, but Hershel said he'll be fine." Rick said, taking the map back.

"As for you," Patricia said, finishing my ankle. "You're not going to be walking for quite a while. If you go out searchin' again, you're gonna be down for a month."

Rick smiled at me. "Well then, you heard her. We'll bring you up some dinner later." He patted my shoulder and left the room with both Shane and Patricia, who closed the door behind her. I sighed and collapsed back into the bed. This was the first time I'd really been alone since Rick found me. The quiet was almost deafening but it was oddly comforting to me. I closed my eyes and relaxed, drifting off to sleep in a matter of minutes.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Rick helped me get back to my tent. Once I was safe inside my own tent, Rick informed me that they were continuing the search for Sophia, but this time they were starting where Daryl found the doll. I wanted to go out there and search along with them, but Hershel had given me another warning about putting too much stress on the ankle. So Rick gave me a book that Beth had lent him, and he left me alone so that he can go find Sophia.<p>

From my tent, I heard that Carl was better. There was some kind of gun training going on later this morning. I sighed and attempted to read the romance novel Beth had given Rick to give to me.

The camp got really quiet for a long time, and I started to feel extremely restless. Carefully, I stood up, making sure to keep my weight off my ankle as much as possible. Outside, the camp was pretty much dead. I limped over to the fire and sat down right before Dale and Glenn hurried over to me.

"Didn't Hershel tell you to stay off that foot?" Dale asked, sounding like a concerned grandfather.

"Don't have a cow; I didn't put much weight on it." I reassured him. Dale narrowed his eyes at me before turning back to Glenn. I noticed then just how worried my friend looked. "Are you okay?" I asked.

"Glenn," Dale said slowly. "Whatever it is you're hiding, I can assure you that I won't repeat it. Will you, Terry?"

I shook my head and used my finger to cross my heart. "Scout's honor, Glenn."

Glenn took a few deep breaths, looked over at the barn, then at the house, and finally back to me and Dale. "There are Walkers in the barn and Lori's pregnant."

Out of all the secrets Glenn could've possibly said, those were the two I least expected. And I wasn't even sure which one made me more worried. Walkers in the barn showed an obvious threat and that needed to be taken care of _as soon as possible. _But Lori being pregnant...what did she plan on doing? Was it even safe anymore to have children...?

Dale hurried off and I was instantly afraid as to where he was going. I looked up at Glenn. "You don't think he'll do anything stupid?"

Glenn shrugged. "There's no telling with him."

Dale returned sometime after the rest of the group came back from gun practice. I was faintly surprised to see Jimmy, Patricia, and Beth with them, but I assumed that Hershel was fine with it. Carl was walking with T-Dog and the little boy was laughing. I smiled to myself, happy to see the kid back on is feet. But then Rick spotted me and hurried over to where Glenn and I were sitting.

Rick looked sternly down at Glenn. "Did you help her out?"

"What? No! She was sitting down when I found her."

"I left the tent myself," I said. "I was dying of boredom in there." Rick glanced down at my ankle, still bound tightly. "I hardly put any weight on that."

Rick sighed. "Next time you want to move, have someone help. The last thing we need is for you to get hurt even more."

"I'll be fine," I replied.

Carl saw me and instantly ran over. "Terry, I shot a gun and I actually hit the target!"

"That's fantastic, buddy!" I congratulated the kid, as his father smiled and walked off. Carl launched into the story of how he hit the target and the young boy wanted to know everything about how I hurt my ankle and how I kept Daryl from falling off a cliff. So I retold the story for him and the little boy's blue eyes got really wide when I told him about the Walkers.

Dale made lunch and that made Carl shut up. Glenn and Maggie left into town soon after that, to make another run for supplies. I caught Lori's eye during lunch time, and I could tell by the way she looked at me that she knew that I knew about her pregnancy. I sighed, not liking the new wall of secrecy that seemed to be festering around here.

As time continued, the rest of the group went off to go do jobs; T-Dog took Carl to go fetch water, Shane and Andrea were still on the hunt for Sophia, Rick was talking to Hershel (I supposed), and both Dale and Carol was inside the house. That left me and Lori alone at camp. I was still attempting to read Beth's book when Maggie stormed up with Glenn following right behind her.

Maggie went right up to Lori with the bag from their run. "We got your shit!" She yelled. I blinked, alarmed at the aggression. "Lotion, hair conditioner, your magazines!" Maggie was slapping the items onto the ground as she said their names. "Oh, and here are you're damn abortion pills!" She forced the box into Lori's hands and whipped around, leaving just as quickly as she came. Glenn looked helplessly at Lori before chasing after Maggie.

Lori collected her things and turned to put them in her tent, but she made eye contact with me. I held her gaze, hoping to God that she didn't actually plan on going through with an abortion. "Lori-" I started.

"Don't." Lori interrupted. "Just don't." She hurried into her tent.


	18. 18: Pretty Much Dead Already

Glenn came back a few minutes later and I immediately tried to stand up to question him. But Glenn quickly made me sit back down. "Talk to her," I told him quietly. He nodded and went inside the tent. I stared helplessly after him, hating my weak ankle at that moment. When Glenn came back out a few minutes later, I raised my eyebrows in question, but he just shrugged. And then after that, Lori came running out and looking like she was crying.

Lori returned and sat down beside me. She glanced over at me. "I couldn't do it." She said. "But I haven't told Rick yet, so if you just not mention it-"

"My lips are sealed," I promised. I reached over and gave the older woman a hug, Lord knew that she needed it.

As the day went on, everyone came back home to the farm. Daryl finally came out of hiding, the graze on his forehead still red. He glanced around before coming over to sit beside me. "How's that foot of yours?" He asked me in that growling voice of his.

"It still hurts a bit," I said truthfully. "How's your head?"

"Better than your foot,"

I snorted as Rick walked past us and into his tent. He was only in there for a long moment before he came right back out, clutching a blue pack. I felt a chill go over me as he narrowed his eyes down on me. "Terry, you've been sittin' there all day. Where's Lori?"

"She went down there," I pointed. Rick thanked me before rushing off in that direction.

"What was that about?" Daryl asked me.

I shook my head. "Nothing I'm involved in." He snorted at my answer and leaned back in his seat.

The next morning, everyone was quietly sitting around the fire. Carol had made scrambled eggs and was serving it out to people. Once again, Daryl and I sat together, and Lori kept giving the two of us glances. I shook my head at her and turned my attention back to the eggs on my plate. I had no clue why she was making my friendship with Daryl into such a big deal.

Glenn stood up from where he was sitting and walked over to the center of the group. "Hey, guys? So, uh, the barn's full of Walkers."

The atmosphere of the camp went from sleepy and relaxed to tense and alert in two seconds flat. And in another two seconds, Glenn was leading everyone down to the barn. At first I was almost left behind, but Daryl found me a long and thick stick that would be able to help support my weight. So I brought up the rear of the group with my new walking staff, feeling like an old lady.

We gathered outside the barn and Shane went up to look inside. When he pulled away, he had a disgusted look on his face. "We have got to deal with this!" He hissed.

"We can't; we're guests!" Rick snapped right back, clearly pissed off about this.

"Screw that man, this is our lives! We've been talkin' 'bout Fort Benning for weeks now-"

"We can't go."

"Why not?"

"Because my daughter's still out there." Carol said firmly, taking a step towards Shane. Shane sighed and pressed his hands against his face. I glared at him, angry with the way he was reacting to Carol still believing in Sophia.

"Maybe it's time we started to think of other possibilities," Shane said.

"She's still alive, Shane." I said. "Daryl found her doll."

"You see, and that's all we've found: a _doll_." Shane snapped. "And I don't think she would've come with y'all even if you did find her."

Daryl took several steps forward. "What the hell does that mean?"

"Man, you both looked like Walkers when y'all came back to camp!" Shane started shouting. "If she saw you she'd run in the other direction!" Daryl made a move to start throwing punches, and Shane continued screaming and tried to get back at Daryl. People rushed forward to keep the two pissed off men separate, though I wouldn't mind it if Daryl had gotten a few punches in on Shane's smug face.

With the loud noise outside, it was a wonder that the Walkers didn't try to knock down the door earlier. Our group was silenced when the doors of the barn began to shake and stretch out towards us. Lori and Carol took Carl back up to the camp, while everyone else slowly moved away. Shane glared at each and every one of us before stalking around to the other side of the barn.

Daryl fell into step with me as I limped heavily back up the trail. I was at the rear of the group and Daryl was a whole lot faster than me, so why was he slowing himself down to stay with me? "You alright?" Daryl asked.

"The staff helps," I said through gritted teeth. Daryl frowned.

"I'm gone go look for Sophia," He said. I stopped walking to stare at him. Daryl stopped as well and looked back at me.

"Are you serious?" I asked. He didn't answer, and I felt frustration well up inside of me. "You still walk around like you have a board strapped to your back. If you go out there again by yourself, you could get hurt even more." Daryl rolled his eyes at me, and I felt like hitting him for acting like an idiot. "Why are you telling me this?"

"I _was _gonna see if you were comin'," Daryl said with a snap in his voice.

"I have to walk with a damn staff do you really think I'd go back out there to get hurt even more?"

"You weren't gonna _get _hurt!" Daryl's voice had risen to a shout and I saw T-Dog and Dale glance over at us. I glanced around and saw Shane had turned away from the barn and full-on staring at me and Daryl.

I looked back at Daryl. "I get that you want to bring Sophia back; believe me I want her back home too!" I added the last part of that sentence even more sharply when Daryl snorted and started pacing. "But you're going to get yourself killed if you keep pushing yourself like this."

Daryl glared at me, breathing heavily and he stopped his pacing. Then, with a sudden movement that took me off guard, he stormed over to my injured side and wrapped one of his arms around my waist. He helped take the support from my ankle and he started moving back to the camp. I felt my face heat up at Daryl's sudden closeness, and it didn't help that I could feel everyone's gaze watching as Daryl and I made our way slowly up the hill and back into camp.

Daryl didn't leave my side until he got me back by the campfire. I sat down into my usual chair and Daryl didn't look at me, he just ignored me and wandered off, heading nowhere in particular. I watched him leave, blindsided by the sudden helpful hand. Rick and Lori, both standing nearby, were looking between me and Daryl's retreating form, and I imagined they were wondering the exact same thing I was: what the hell was that?

No one really mentioned me and Daryl, but it was in their faces every time I glanced at one of them. I could tell that Lori wanted to talk about it, but I shoved my nose into Beth's book and pretended to be immersed in the painful love story going on.

As time went on, Rick went inside to talk to Hershel about the farm situation, Carol walked off in the direction that Daryl went off, and I watched Dale leave the camper with the bag of guns. Where the hell did he think he was going?

A few minutes later, Rick came back outside and walked over to where Andrea was waiting for him. I glanced around: Lori wasn't anywhere to be seen. I lowered the book that had acted as my defense as Hershel came outside. Whatever he said to Rick, I didn't hear, but they soon left the farm with Jimmy. Andrea walked past me and glanced at me curiously, but I buried my nose into that book before she could say anything.

Several minutes went by as the camp emptied. Glenn was keeping watch from the top of the camper, and he wearing Dale's hat. I was looking back down into Beth's book when Shane walked up to me and squatted down right beside my chair. I looked at him curiously. "Yes, Shane?"

"Daryl taught you to track, right?" Shane asked immediately, not beating around the bush. I nodded. Shane smiled at me in a way that made me feel edgy. "Then c'mon; I need your help findin' Dale."

"Is he okay?" I asked, reaching down for my staff.

"Which way did he go?" Shane shot back, refusing to answer my question. I pointed and Shane set off, as if he didn't care if I tracked the way or not. I limped after him and was able to catch up when he reached the tree line. After a few minutes of sorting through the thick woodland, I found the fresh set of tracks that had to be Dale's.

"This way," I said, limping after the tracks. Shane started to follow me at first but then he sped up until he was right at my shoulder. I could feel his hot breath on my shoulder as he stared at the ground, no doubt trying to see what I could now see.

It was weird yet oddly refreshing to be tracking someone other than Daryl or Walkers. The only complaint was about the company. Shane soon got impatient with my lack of speed and he continued to try and make me hurry up.

"C'mon now, Yankee." Shane said with a huff. "We're burnin' daylight here!"

"If you wanted someone who could move faster, you should've gotten Daryl." I said. Shane gave me a sharp glare but said nothing. I could tell by the tracks that we were getting closer; thank goodness. Shane was becoming frightening. With his eyes wide and sweat dripping off his face, he looked crazy. I hoped we found Dale soon, anything to get Shane off my back.

Dale's tracks led to a tiny pond in the middle of a dark green grove. And there was Dale with the bag of guns slung over his shoulder. Shane shot his hand out to stop me from walking any farther. "You can go back to camp, Yankee." Shane said quietly before leaving the shade of the tall trees. I was going to go back to camp like Shane had said, but then I saw the way Dale flinched when he saw Shane.

He was terrified of Shane, but why?

From where I was hiding, I couldn't hear a single word of the conversation. But the body language was all I needed to see that threats were being made. Dale pointed his hunting rifle at Shane, but the former cop stepped forward until the gun was pressed up against his chest. Finally, ale lowered the gun and Shane took the bag of guns from the older man. And then Shane turned and started right towards me.

I hurried and started to hobble away, but in less than a minute, Shane caught up to me and grabbed my wrist tightly, pulling me along with him. "You walk too damn slow." He grumbled. I was forced to allow Shane to pull me through the woods, and his tight grip didn't let up until we broke through the tree line again. He let me go and I took up my slow limp once again, but Shane slowed his pace until we walked shoulder to shoulder. "You didn't see a damn thing in those woods, ya hear?"

I glanced over at him through my eyelashes. Shane had changed from the leader he had been when I first met him. This Shane was darker, more violent, aggression rolling off of him in waves. I instantly got the feeling that if I crossed this Shane, he wouldn't think twice about putting a bullet in my head.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said firmly.

"Good girl," Shane said with a smile on his face. That smile now made my stomach crawl. We came into view of the house and I saw the entirety of both groups sitting out on the porch. Shane's smile got even wider and it reminded me of the Joker. "Now let's go save our new home."


	19. 19: Found

"Where the hell have y'all been?" Daryl asked the second we came into view. Shane replied by forcing a shotgun into Daryl's hands. I stopped limping, my ankle now throbbing, as Shane went around giving guns out and ranting about making the farm safe from the threat right under our noses. While he spoke, Daryl moved over to me, glancing down at my ankle and back up at my face. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"I might've strained it a bit in the woods," I said. Daryl opened his mouth to say something else when T-Dog said, "Oh shit."

Everyone turned to where T-Dog was staring, and we all saw Hershel, Jimmy, and Rick coming to the barn...with Walkers on leashes.

"Oh _hell _no!" Shane shouted before charging towards the barn. T-Dog, Andrea, and Glenn went right after him. Daryl gave me a sharp look but I pushed his arm away. Daryl nodded briefly at me before tearing after the others. Carol and Patricia took either side of me and started to help me get down there.

When we finally reached the group, Shane started to fire several rounds into the Walker that Hershel was holding onto. Patricia and Carol stopped walking but I used my staff to get closer, and soon I was standing a little bit behind Daryl. He turned and made sure I was standing at a safe distance from the two Walkers by nudging me back some. I narrowed my eyes at him, but he ignored me and turned his back to me.

"That thing is not human!" Shane was screaming. "It just took five rounds to the chest! Its lungs and heart should be destroyed, yet why's it _still coming_?"

"Shane, enough!" Rick screamed, still holding onto his wild Walker.

"You're right man, that is enough," Shane marched right up to the Walker Hershel was holding and fired a last bullet into its head. Hershel dropped the leash and fell to his knees. Shane ran away from the old man and right up to the doors of the barn. I felt the hair on my arms stand straight up as Shane started to bang on the doors, and then he started to pry off the locks. The Walkers inside were pushing against the doors, eager to come out and feed.

I heard Lori trying to get Carl back up to the house. Rick was screaming at Shane, but our leader was powerless against him while his hands were full with the Walker. I looked up at the house, knowing that it wouldn't be able to stand against the amount of Walkers that were in the barn. Shane got a pickax and finally managed to open the doors.

Shane moved away from the doors and took a position with his gun aimed and ready. The doors of the barn opened slowly and then snapped open as the Walkers surged out into the sun. Shane fired the gun, killing the first one. T-Dog, Daryl, and Andrea took positions on either side of him and began to fire. Glenn hesitated, but after looking at Maggie he took up a position right beside Andrea.

The sound from the five different gun fires was deafening, and one by one every Walker fell to the ground. I saw Lori trying to hide Carl from the carnage. Rick stayed where he was standing powerless against Shane's craze. For a while, it seemed like it'd never end. More and more Walkers filed out of the barn. But finally the last one went down and the people with guns lowered their weapons. No spoke for a moment, until soft growling came from the barn. I looked over at the doors, expecting the next one to come out. But when I saw the tiny tennis shoes step out of the shadows, my heart dropped to the ground.

Sophia's blond hair was smudged with green and brown sludge. Her skin was gray and her eyes were almost completely white. The rainbow t-shirt she had been wearing was ruined, though from what, I had no idea. And to top it all off, there was a giant hunk of her shoulder missing, showing where a Walker had probably come up behind her and ended her life.

Carol let out an anguished cry and she started running towards her baby girl. I dropped my staff and grabbed onto Carol as she passed, both of us falling to our knees. Carol didn't fight against me; she cried her daughter's name and stared at what had become of her. Daryl moved back a few steps so that he was standing right behind me. Sophia heard Carol's cries and snarled, looking at all of the humans around her. Then she started to move forward, her dead eyes staring at everyone.

Rick walked forward to meet her, a sad expression on his face. Slowly, Rick raised his gun at the small Walker's head. Sophia looked up at him and began to snarl. But it was cut off with the sound of Rick's gun. And with that final sound, the little girl we spent days searching for, fell to the ground, finally dead.

No one moved for a long moment. Carol detached herself from me and ran up to the house, crying hysterically and barely breathing. I watched her go, knowing that we all had failed her in finding her daughter. Daryl looked away from Carol's running form and he bent down to help me to my feet. I accepted his help without complaint. He picked up the staff and, instead of giving it back to me, he tucked it under his arm and wrapped his other arm tightly around me, getting into the position of helping me get back up the hill.

A sudden scream sounded from behind us and Daryl and I turned around to see Beth getting grabbed at by a Walker. Shane rushed forward and grabbed Beth while Glenn took hold of the Walker. Andrea came around with a long scythe and ran the blade through the Walker's head. Beth let out another loud scream and pushed herself away from Shane so that she could be with her father, who had stood up the second Beth was in trouble.

Daryl and I managed to get back to camp, and once I was sitting in my chair again, I nodded towards the camper where Carol was. "See if she needs anything, please." I said, hoping for once he wouldn't argue. He didn't. Daryl just nodded and walked into the camper. I leaned back and covered my face with my hands, anger and pain and sadness overwhelming me. I let out a shuddering sob and used my staff to get inside my tent.

* * *

><p>I limped down to some of the trees where Jimmy, T-Dog, Andrea, and Lori dug graves for Sophia, Shawn, and Annette. Everyone was already circled around the three graves. The bodies were already lowered in and filled again. I stood next to Glenn and Maggie. The two of them were pressed against one another, Glenn's arm wrapped tightly around Maggie. I was surprised at how fast their relationship seemed to grow, but I guessed that was the best thing for them. I looked away from the graves and caught Daryl watching me, but he looked away the second I caught him.<p>

Hershel walked away from the graves, and after him, everyone dispersed one by one. I was one of the last ones to leave, limping away and back towards the camp. When I got there, I noticed that Daryl's tent was missing. I glanced around until I found Daryl's form walking up the hill away from the house. I frowned and limped after him.

Daryl had set up his tent by the time I got to him. I looked around the small clearing, surprised at the decency of the place. I wondered if Daryl had found this place earlier; he must've. Daryl looked over at me and walked a bit closer. "Yankee," He said.

"Hick," I said back. Daryl snorted loudly in the way I now knew was amusement. "What're you doing all the way up here by yourself?"

"Movin'," Daryl said shortly. "Thought it'd be best to distance myself."

I blinked. "What does that do?"

He shrugged. "Gets me outta camp."

"But why?"

"Good Lord," Daryl muttered. "I can't just get outta camp?"

"You can do whatever you want," I said, feeling the now familiar frustration with Daryl come up inside of me. "I just want to know." Daryl and I locked eyes, frustration with the other rolling off of us. I could practically feel his annoyance with my constant questions, yet he wasn't telling me to leave like he told the others who annoyed him. I didn't know if that me special or whatever, but I didn't care at that moment. All I wanted was a straight answer.

Daryl stopped his pacing and glared at me. "I think you said it best when you told me you felt like you were suffocating around them." I frowned and realized that he was just trying to get more comfortable, and that meant distancing himself away from the others.

"So you're sure this has nothing to do about Sophia?" I asked. Daryl narrowed his eyes at me and didn't answer. I nodded, understanding his silence. The atmosphere had become tense, so I glanced over at the small shape of the house. "You chose a good enough spot; you're far enough away from everyone. What're planning on doing out here by yourself?"

"What I always did," Daryl answered shortly.

I looked at him nervously, not knowing how hard I should push him. "You'll still teach me to track, right?"

"You still wanna learn?"

"Yeah, if I ever go hunting, it'll come in handy." I said. Daryl smirked slightly at the mention of me going on a hunt. I smiled at him, but the light heartedness was short-lived as we saw Lori running out towards us. "What does she want?" I asked out loud, not really caring if Daryl answered or not.

Lori looked around cautiously at Daryl's new camp. But this new development didn't cause her to beat around the bush. "Listen, Daryl, Beth's in some catatonic state and we need Hershel back. I need you to go into town and bring him and Rick back." Daryl snorted and sat down, leaning against one of the old stone ruins. Lori narrowed her eyes at him. "Daryl."

"Why don't you go fetch 'im yourself?" Daryl snapped, clearly frustrated. I leaned up against a tree as Lori looked up at me desperately. I shrugged at her. "I got better things to do."

Lori turned away from me to glare at Daryl. "What's the matter with you, why would you be this selfish?"

"Selfish?" Daryl repeated, standing up to tower over Lori. "Listen to me, Olive Oil: I was out there lookin' for that little girl every single day. I took a bullet and an arrow in the process, so don't go tellin' me 'bout gettin' my hands dirty. You want those two idiots, have a nice ride. I'm done lookin' for people." Daryl cut himself off and looked over at me. "Yankee, c'mon, trackin' lesson." Without waiting for me to agree, he stalked away into the woods.

I glanced over at Lori and shrugged. "Sorry."

"Do _you _know what's bothering him?" She asked me.

"People grieve in different ways, Lori." I said, knowing that Sophia's death was only part of the reason Daryl came out here. I turned my back on Lori and followed Daryl's tracks into the woods.

Daryl must've been making his tracks extra easy for me to follow. I could clearly see every step into the soft ground. And then suddenly, the tracks stopped altogether. I frowned and looked around, but there weren't any more tracks I could follow. A small twig fell on top of my head, and I looked up and nearly screamed in fright.

"Why are you in a tree?" I asked. Daryl was crouched in one of the lowest branches, quietly waiting for me to notice him.

"Squirrels will do that," Daryl said, jumping down from the tree and landing heavily right beside me. I took a small step away, simply out of the fear of getting crushed by him.

"Squirrels?" I repeated.

Daryl made a small noise from the back of his throat. "They'll do that; jump up off the ground and climb trees to get away from ya. Just be faster and you'll catch 'em."

"You're teaching me to hunt?" I asked, feeling honestly surprised. Daryl nodded and gestured me forward. I followed him, feeling honored about him volunteering to teach me hunting. "So I'm going to learn about squirrels first?"

"Nah." Daryl said, surprising me. "Rabbits. They can't turn on you, but they're fast as all hell. Squirrels got an advantage on rabbits, 'cause they can climb trees to get away. Rabbits can't."

"Makes sense," I said. "So what's the first step?"

"Learnin' their tracks," Daryl replied. "Once ya know what rabbit tracks look like, then you can track 'em." He started off into the woods, keeping his eyes on the ground to find me some rabbit tracks. I followed him immediately.


	20. 20: New Person

I carried the thick slabs of dead rabbit back to the house. Daryl and I had quickly found some rabbit tracks, and that led us to where two rabbits had holed themselves into a small burrow underneath a tree. Daryl quickly separated the rabbits and killed them both. He took one rabbit for himself and I took the other back to camp, not sure how someone was going to go about cooking this, but Daryl had insisted that I take it.

By the time I got back to the camp, it was dark. T-Dog was on watch and he aimed his gun at me when I approached, but he relaxed when he saw that I wasn't a Walker. "Get on inside, Yankee." T-Dog called down from the camper. "Patricia made us dinner."

"That was nice of them," I said, thinking about this painful afternoon. I put the slabs of rabbit into the fridge for a later meal and then T-Dog and I walked into the house for food. Carl had already set the table by the time we got inside and others were sitting at the table, waiting eagerly for the food that was promised to show up. I took the seat between T-Dog and Maggie as Patricia sat two different dishes down on the table. I took a long look at the food: fried ham and buttered corn. My mouth started watering just as Shane and Andrea entered the room.

"They should've been back by now," Andrea said.

I looked up in alarm. "They're not back yet?"

"You'd know that if you weren't runnin' 'round the woods with Daryl," Shane said in a scathing tone. I glared at him, my distrust and dislike for him growing even more. "Besides, I don't think there's anythin' to be worried about. They probably holed themselves up for the night. They'll be back in the morning." I exchanged a glance with Maggie.

Carol walked away from the table and started to call up for Lori to come downstairs, but Maggie suddenly said, "She's not up there."

"Where is she?" Dale asked. Silence descended on the whole table as everyone tried to remember the last time they saw Lori.

"She was worried about Rick," Andrea said. "She asked me to go look for him earlier this afternoon."

"She did the same thing to me and Daryl." I added.

"Did she go after him?" Dale asked, looking at both me and Andrea. I shrugged. Shane stood up abruptly and said that he'd be back. He left the dining room and I found myself more relaxed the moment he left. Patricia handed out more plates of food and we all ate together in silence. I was worried about Rick, Glenn, and Hershel, and now Lori. And with Lori's pregnancy, she was putting her unborn child at risk. As soon as dinner was finished, Carol approached me to ask where Daryl's new camp was set up.

I pointed out the hill where Daryl had set up camp and Carol didn't waste any time running towards the small speck of light that was most likely Daryl's campfire. I watched her leave, knowing the hell that that woman had through. And yet she was still operating. Carol had cried over her daughter becoming a Walker, but she was still going on. I had to give the lady credit where it was due, and I knew that Carol was a lot stronger than anyone, including herself, gave her credit for.

I managed to climb the camper to get to the lawn chair sitting on top. I quickly sat down in it, my injured ankle sore. It felt a lot better than it had earlier today, and I couldn't wait for the opportunity to use my foot fully again. A few minutes later, Carol came back down from Daryl's camp, and she looked ticked off. I assumed that Daryl told her the same thing he told Lori when it came to finding more people.

Carol looked up at me. "He's too stubborn for his own good." I snorted.

"That's the understatement of the year," I said.

"How d'you handle him?" She asked. She looked really curious for the answer.

I frowned. "I have no idea."

"He seems to like you more than anyone else around here." Carol said. "You must be doing something right." With that said, she walked inside the camper. I leaned back in the lawn chair and thought about what she said. I had noticed a while ago that Daryl preferred my company than that of anyone else in the group. And it would seem that the rest of the group noticed this too.

About an hour later, Shane's car pulled in the drive. I stood up from the chair as both Shane and Lori got out. The rest of the group noticed their arrival and rushed out to meet them. I couldn't hear what was being said, but I got the idea that Shane lied to Lori to get her to come back with him. There was a small scuffle between Lori and Shane before Lori stormed off with the others. Shane rubbed his head and looked around, his eyes glancing up to meet mine. I gave the man a stiff nod. He looked away and disappeared inside his tent.

I kept watch as everyone else went to bed. As the camp grew quiet, I quickly discovered just how boring night watch really was. At least with keeping watch during the day you had different distractions to watch. It was a fantastic place to people watch. But at night, everything was dark and hardly anything was moving. After two hours, Andrea woke up and took over for me. I crawled back down the ladder and made it into my tent, the events of today weighing down on me like a lead block.

* * *

><p>Early the next morning, Shane was getting a patrol ready to go find Rick, Glenn, and Hershel. I tried to volunteer, but Shane finally decided to be a good human being and told me to stay in camp because my ankle could get hurt again. I rolled my eyes; I wasn't walking around with a limp anymore and my ankle felt fine even if it was a little sore.<p>

"She can make it," Daryl said from where he was standing. I blinked in surprise at him. Shane was also looking at Daryl like he had lost his mind. Daryl stared hard at Shane and wasn't looking at me. "The Yank can keep up with me on a hunt with a busted foot, she can keep up with us."

Right the patrol was about to head out, Hershel's red car pulled into the drive. Everyone who heard the engine pulling up rushed out to greet them. I walked slowly up to Daryl. As Rick and the others exited the car, I stood beside Daryl. "Your newfound confidence in me is convincing."

"It ain't new," Daryl said gruffly. I blinked at him and the redneck shrugged it off. "Don't worry 'bout it."

"Who the hell is that?" T-Dog asked suddenly, pointing to the backseat of the car. Everyone followed his gaze and saw a young man with a blindfold on. Glenn said that the man's name was Randal. I exchanged a look with Daryl before everyone started to move closer to get a good look at this new person.


	21. 21: Better

After Randal was locked up in one of the bedrooms, Rick gathered us in the dining room to discuss what to do about our new guest. "What d'you we do with him?" Andrea asked. At that moment, Hershel walked in while wiping a dark rag on his hands.

"I repaired his calf muscles as best as I can," Hershel reported. "He'll probably have nerve damage, won't be on his feet for a week."

"Well, when he's better we'll give him a canteen," Rick said. "Take him out far enough and send him on his way."

"Isn't that the same as leaving him out for the Walkers?" Andrea asked from beside Shane.

I looked over at her. "If he knows how to survive then I think he'll be okay." Daryl let out a small grunt from beside me that I could only take as that he agreed with me.

"So we'll just let him go?" Shane asked. "What if he goes back to his group, man, he knows where we are!"

"He was blindfolded the entire way here," Rick tried to reason with his old friend. "He doesn't have a clue where he is."

"He's out cold right now," Hershel interjected. "We won't be able to question him until he wakes."

Shane scoffed and rolled his eyes before beginning to storm out. "Well, let me go get him some flowers and chocolates! Look at this y'all; we're back in fantasy land." He left the dining room and then the house, as we heard the front door slam shut. Rick and Hershel exchanged a glance and left the room to go do different things; Rick went after Shane, and Hershel went back into the room with Randal.

I left the house with the others. I saw Andrea run right up to where Shane was pacing by the shed. Daryl nudged me and started for his camp; I quickly got the message and caught up so that we were walking side by side. We weren't walking close enough to touch, but it was close enough to fall into step with one another. I could feel the hot looks of the other group members as we walked away, but there wasn't anything scandalous going on between me and Daryl. I was learning how to track, which was going to help me get out of this apocalypse alive. So, the way I saw it, Daryl made me better.

"Alright," Daryl said when we got to his camp. "Time to track squirrel. They're more of them than rabbits, but they're faster and harder to catch."

* * *

><p>A week went by just like Hershel said, and Randal was finally able to walk again. We'd been keeping him in the shed for that time, not wanting him to either get too comfortable in the house or figure out where he is. Besides, if he got loose in the house, there was no way we'd be able to let him go alive. Rick and Shane blindfolded Randal again and put headphones on him so that he didn't know where he was. I watched as they pulled and pushed the young man into the back of one of the cars and drove away, taking him far away from the farm.<p>

"Good riddance," Daryl grumbled from behind me. I couldn't help but agree with him on that one. Randal's presence here had made me uneasy.

"You said it," I muttered. Daryl grunted and sprawled back in his chair. He seemed comfortable around me to sprawl out like that, and it made me smirk to myself to think that I got to him. But I'd never say these things to Daryl to confirm it. I walked around to him and looked down. Daryl opened one eye lazily. "Are we going to track today?"

"You wanna keep at it?" He asked. I nodded. We'd been tracking a different animal every day for the past week, and so far, with some discipline and Daryl degrading every false move I made, I'd figured out how to track and find rabbits, squirrels, possums, raccoons, and even deer. With the way Daryl taught, it was hard not to be a fast learner. The man was so impatient that he'd probably scare any living animal away just by instructing you.

Daryl stood up, glancing around his small camp. "Fine. How 'bout I go first, you wait twenty minutes, then come and track me."

"What happens when I find you?" I asked.

"Get the satisfaction of trackin' me." He said before he turned tail, grabbed his crossbow, and walked into the woods. I sat down on his chair and began to wait the twenty minutes.

When the twenty minutes were over, I stood up and grabbed my staff. I didn't use it for helping me to walk anymore, but I had sharpened one end to a very sharp point. I walked into the woods with this sharp staff in hand and my hatchet at my side.

It didn't take long to find where Daryl's footprints began. I found the trail and started to follow it, but after five minutes of clear pathways, the trail stop altogether. I frowned and looked all around but the tracks didn't start up again. I looked up at the trees and smiled to myself. Daryl had apparently jumped into a tree and used those to move around for a while. He left scuff marks on the bark so that I could see where he went. I followed the scuff marks until finally I found a par of footprints on the ground.

Now Daryl was just trying to make things as hard as possible. There were times where there weren't any footprints at all. The only way I knew where to go was the tiniest signs that Daryl had been there, such as recently broken branches or rustled up piles of leaves. I followed the trail to the best of my ability until I walked through a bush and found Daryl's tracks from earlier, my own tracks, and a new set of tracks right behind mine.

"What the hell?" I muttered. Suddenly, I heard the twang of an arrow and a lock of my hair was brushed forward violently as an arrow flew past my head, narrowly missing my ear, and landed with a thud in the bark of a tree on the other side of the tracks. I turned around to see Daryl lowering his crossbow. "You started tracking me while I was tracking you?" I asked.

Daryl nodded. "Most people don't know they're bein' followed 'til it's too late. I've been followin' your trail for 'bout five minutes after you started."

"Was the arrow really necessary?" I asked, feeling my heartbeat begin to slow down from the original rush of almost getting killed by an airborne arrow. "You could've missed and killed me!"

He snorted in amusement. "I don't miss." I rolled my eyes at him and started back for where the camp was. "You mad?" Daryl called after me. I ignored him and didn't stop walking until I got back to Daryl's camp. Daryl silently came out of the bushes right behind me, and I felt foolish again for not realizing that he'd been following me again.

"How'd you learn all of this stuff?" I asked. It was a question I'd been thinking about for a long while now, and now I felt like I could ask Daryl without him getting annoyed with my presence.

Daryl shrugged. "My old man used to take me and Merle huntin'. Then it was just me, huntin' for dinner. Merle kept gettin' himself sent to juvi, and my old man couldn't get the bottle outta his hand." I felt bad about asking him that question now, but he said it in such a detached way that it seemed like he didn't care anymore.

My mind drifted to Merle and I looked at Daryl cautiously, knowing that I was about to cross into uncomfortable territory. "Do you miss him? Merle, I mean."

Daryl didn't answer right away. He stared at a certain tree for a while and we both sat in silence. But then he turned to me. "'Course I miss 'im. But you helped him get away. So I think he's still alive out there. Maybe he's got himself a better group, maybe he's on his own just like how he wanted to be. No one's gonna kill Merle, 'cept Merle."

I nodded, remembering that day and how I kicked that saw to Daryl's brother. All we knew about Merle was that he sawed through his own hand and got away. But I imagined him in a new group, finally able to help protect them. The thought seemed to appease Daryl, so it worked for me.

"What 'bout you?" Daryl asked me suddenly. "What happened to your family?"

I paused. "I don't really know. I was living on my own before all this happened. My parents were still living in Michigan, and my younger sister was studying abroad in Canada. So I don't have a clue about any of them. But they might still be alive, I like to think that they all found big, strong groups. My dad was a survival nut so they had lots of canned foods, bottled waters, all that good stuff. So they're still alive, I think."

"Let's hope so," Daryl muttered. We stood there in comfortable silence for a long time, looking down at the rest of the farm's property. I spotted the green car that Rick and Shane took to go get rid of Randal. Daryl nodded to the car. "D'you think they got rid of the kid?"

"Let's hope so," I said, mimicking him. Daryl gave me a look and it looked like he was actually smiling at me. The car stopped and we watched as three figures left the vehicle.

"You've gotta be kiddin' me," Daryl grumbled.

"Should we go down and check it out?" I asked.

"Might as well," He grumbled. We headed down the hill together, and this time we ended up walking closer together than we had earlier.


	22. 22: Judge, Jury, Executioner

The next morning, I sat on top of the camper facing the shed where Randal was being kept. Daryl was in there with him, trying to get him to talk about how many people were in his group, where they were, things like that. It had been Shane's idea, and I had been shocked when Rick agreed with him. And now I could hear the occasional scream and shriek of pain coming from Randal. The second Lori had heard them, she sent Carl inside to do his school work.

More screams came from the shed and I grimaced at the sound. I was scared to know exactly what Daryl was doing, and I had the feeling that I didn't want to know. The screaming faded and I hoped desperately that the kid was talking. But then he started screaming again.

"Terry?" Lori called to me from the ground. I looked down at her to see that her eyes were full of concern. "Daryl's fine."

I nodded and looked back to the shed. "I know he is." Lori was silent and I heard her footsteps walk away back to the fire. Just then, the shed door opened up and Daryl stepped down. I quickly got off the camper and met him by the fire, trying to ignore the red bruises on his knuckles.

"Don't worry, Yank," Daryl muttered to me as Rick and Shane and the others gathered around him to hear what Randal had told him. Daryl looked away from me to the others. "Boy's got a gang, thirty men with heavy artillery. They ain't lookin' to make friends. They roll through here, our boys are all dead, and our women, they're gonna wish they were."

I shuddered at what Daryl was hinting at. He noticed and took a small side-step towards me. Lori turned to Rick, looking to her husband for some kind of leadership. Rick looked just as angry and threatened as everyone else did. "No one goes near this guy." He announced. "We no longer have a choice; he's a threat. We have to eliminate the threat."

Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at Rick with surprise, or in Dale's case, horror. "You're just gonna kill him?" Dale asked.

"It's settled," Rick said. "We'll do it today." He walked away from the group, Dale staring after him as if he had gone mad. I exchanged a look with Daryl, but he just shrugged. Dale shook himself and hurried after Rick.

"Is there no other way?" Carol asked, looking scared. I looked over at her and gave her a sort of shrug. She sighed and walked into the camper. Glenn and Maggie walked away towards the house, and T-Dog took my spot on top of the camper. Daryl nudged my arm, causing me to look over at him.

"You wanna track?" He asked. I nodded and we began to go towards his camp. We walked past Lori, who gave us a long look. When we got back to Daryl's camp, he automatically walked into the woods and I sat down, waiting twenty minutes before going after him. This time, Daryl had been walking extremely lightly; I could barely see his prints at all.

It took me about another thirty minutes before I found Daryl. He had looped back around all the way back to the barn and was sitting on a pile of lumber when I came out of the tree line. Daryl glanced down at his wrist as if he had a watch there.

"You're gettin' faster," He said. "But you're still too slow."

"And you're tracks are all but gone back there," I countered.

Daryl snorted. "You think someone's gonna leave plain as day tracks for you?"

"No I didn't, so you can save the lecture," I said, sounding a lot sharper than I had originally meant to. Daryl raised an eyebrow at me but didn't say anything. I spotted movement out of the corner of my eye and saw Dale walking over to us. "I think Dale wants to talk." I said. Daryl followed my gaze and groaned. Suddenly, he was on his feet and heading for the woods before I could blink. "Where are you going?" I asked.

"If he wants to talk to me, he can come find me." Daryl said over his shoulder right before disappearing into the forest. I shook my head at him and turned to see Dale looking over at where Daryl had disappeared.

"Hi, Dale," I said. Dale looked between me and the spot where Daryl disappeared. I quickly came up with some excuse. "He goes into the woods for me to track him. I'm supposed to wait here until he's far enough away."

"So that's what you two do all day in the woods?" Dale asked. I raised an eyebrow at him but he didn't elaborate. Instead, he shook his head and started talking about Randal. "Terry, I know you. You would never let an innocent boy be killed."

"He's a threat, Dale." I said. "Believe me, I thought all about it while I was trudging through those woods. And I'm tired of sleeping with one eye open all the time. For once, I'd like peace of mind, and no one's going to get that while Randal's still alive. If this problem came up a few months ago, I might've agreed with you. But things have changed." Dale stared at me with a scared expression on his face. I glanced back into the woods. "I have to go track Daryl now." I turned tail and walked straight into the woods, leaving Dale behind.

I wasn't tracking Daryl for all that long before I found him lounged in a tree. "You're not really testing me if you don't even try to hide." I said.

Daryl snorted. "You passed."

"What?"

"I said you passed." Daryl said. "I taught you all I know. There's not much else I can do for you."

I frowned at him. "Does that mean you don't want me hanging around anymore?"

Daryl looked down at me. "Nah, you're the only one I can stand around here." I smiled up at him and he gave me a small smirk in return. "Can you climb?"

"Um," I said quietly, heading for his tree and trying to come up with a way to get up there. Daryl leaned down and pointed with an arrow to a small crater in the tree trunk where I could put my foot. I followed his orders and managed to hoist myself up on the branch right beside Daryl's. "Does that answer your question?" I asked him. Daryl snorted in amusement.

"I think it says that you can't climb for shit," He said. I laughed and looked around at the view from up here.

"Is this what you do when you leave?" I asked, referring to all the times Daryl would just disappear during the day.

"No. This is me hidin' from Dale."

I shook my head at the mention of Dale. "Do you think there's even the slightest chance that Rick won't kill Randal?"

"Nah. Everyone wants the kid gone; it's like Rick said. He's a threat."

We sat in comfortable silence for a long time. Then I noticed how the forest had a slight orange tint to everything. "It's about time to go vote."

"Some vote it's gonna be," Daryl said as he stared to climb back down. He got on the ground before I even got off my branch. "Damn, you really can't climb for shit."

"Shut up,"

Daryl let out his rare laugh, and somehow the sound of it made blood rush to my face. Once my feet were back on the ground, we walked back to the house, occasionally brushing up against one another. I tried not to let it happen, but every time he brushed past me, it felt like lightning shooting through my body.

* * *

><p>The atmosphere in the house was extremely tense. I stood beside Daryl near the door. Everyone else was closer to the center. Rick and Lori finally entered, and Glenn asked. "So how d'we do this; just take a vote?"<p>

"Does it have to be unanimous?" Andrea asked.

"Let's just see where everybody stands," Rick said. "Then we can talk through the options."

Shane huffed. "Well, the way I see it, there's only one way to move forward."

"Killing him, right?" Dale asked, sounding angry for the first time since I'd known him. "Why bother to take a vote, it's clear the way the wind's blowin'."

Rick blinked at Dale. "If anyone thinks we should spare him, I want to know."

"Well it's a small group, maybe just me and Glenn." Dale said, looking down at Glenn. Glenn didn't look up to meet the older man's eyes and Dale looked at his friend in shock.

Glenn sighed. "Look, I think you're pretty much right about everything all the time, but this-"

"They've got you scared!" Dale exclaimed.

"He's not one of us!" Glenn shot back. "And we've lost too many people already."

Dale looked around at the others, his eyes landing on Maggie. "How about you, d'you agree with this?"

Maggie looked over to Rick. "Couldn't we continue to keep him prisoner?"

"He'd just be another mouth to feed," Daryl said, moving around me so that he could lean against the wall.

"Or he could be an asset!" Dale said. "Give the boy a chance to prove himself."

"We could make him work," I suggested. Daryl shot me a look but said nothing.

Rick turned to look at me. "We're not letting him walk around."

"Then put an escort on him," Maggie said, nodding at me.

Shane snorted. "Who wants to volunteer for that duty?"

"We could take turns," Dale suggested. "Start off with me, then Glenn or Terry-"

"The boy was apart of a group that attacked women," Daryl cut Dale off the second he heard my name. "And you want to put women in charge of watching him?"

Rick cut across Daryl. "I don't want anyone walkin' around with this guy."

"He's right," Lori said. "I wouldn't feel safe unless he was tied up."

"We can't put chains around his ankles and send him into hard labor," Andrea said with a shrug.

Shane took a step forward, looking around at everyone in the group. "Say we let him in, maybe he's friendly, maybe he's nice. We let our guard down and he runs off and brings back his thirty men."

"So you're plan is to kill him for a crime he may never commit?" Dale asked. "If we do this, we're saying that there is no hope."

Patricia spoke up for the first time in the meeting. "If you did kill 'im, how would you do it?"

"Could hang 'im; snap his neck." Shane said.

"I thought about that, but I figured shootin' would be more humane." Rick said.

Dale looked horrified. "You're all talking as if it's already been decided!"

"We've just been goin' in circles," Daryl said, finally starting to pace like he usually id during debates. I noticed that he was pacing around me, but I ignored it. "You just wanna keep goin' in circles?"

"This is a young man's life!" Dale shouted. "It's worth more than a five minute conversation!" Daryl stopped pacing at was now standing at my shoulder. "Is this what it's come to? We kill a man because we can't figure out what else to do with him? You saved him! And now look at this. How are we any better than those people we're so afraid of?"

Rick looked around at everyone. "Anyone who wants the floor, before we make any final decision, now's your chance."

Nobody moved. I kept my eyes on the ground as Dale started to talk again. "You once said that we don't kill the living."

"Well, that was before the living tried to kill us," Rick countered.

"Don't you see?" Dale asked. "If we do this, the people we were, the world that we knew is dead! And this new world is ugly, it's _harsh, _it's survival of the fittest_. _It's not a world I want to live in, and I don't think any of you want to live in it either." No one said anything. "Please. Let's just do what's right."

Again, no one spoke up.

Dale glared around at everyone with tears glimmering in his eyes. He left the house and we all heard the door slam behind him.

* * *

><p>A few minutes later, Rick, Shane, and Daryl all took Randal out to the barn. I stood beside my tent with my back to the barn. It was really dark outside, considering that there wasn't a moon and the stars themselves seemed to be hiding away. The only lights I could see were the ones coming from the house and the barn. I kept expecting the sound of Rick's gun to go off, but it never came. I turned around just in time to see them men coming out of the barn with Randal still alive.<p>

Rick walked back up to us with Carl (I stared in surprise at the kid and I wondered why the hell his mother never watched him) and he said, "We're keeping him in custody for now."

"I'll go find Dale," Andrea said, getting up from he fire and going off in the direction Dale went.

Daryl had just joined us back in the camp and he made a bee-line towards me so that he could stand beside me. I as faintly surprised that he didn't go back to his camp, but I didn't question it. It had been a long time since Daryl actually hung out with the rest of the group.

Suddenly, screams filled the night air.

"That sounds like Dale!" I said, looking out where the screams were coming from.

"Shit!" Rick hissed before charging out in that direction. Everyone followed suit and we all ran into the darkness. Even through the open field, we couldn't really see where Dale was. The only way we were able to find him was the screaming and the snarls of a Walker. Daryl charged ahead of everyone and tackled the Walker off of Dale. The Walker was silenced by Daryl's knife and we all gathered around to see the horror in front of us.

Dale's belly had been torn open completely. I started swaying without meaning to and I would've fallen if Andrea hadn't grabbed onto me and we both fell to our knees together. Rick was screaming for someone to get Hershel, but one look at this wound and I could tell that it'd be useless. Hershel arrived and he confirmed my thoughts.

Dale was writhing on the ground, in sheer agony. Andrea was weeping beside him. He was suffering. Rick pulled out his gun and started to pull it up to Dale's head. But Rick was hesitating. Daryl gently took the gun from Rick's hand and pushed Rick out of the way. Daryl kneeled down and put the gun to Dale's head. Dale met Daryl's eyes and held that gaze.

"Sorry brother," Daryl said right before pulling the trigger.


	23. 23: Things Fall Apart

After Dale's funeral, Shane, T-Dog, Andrea, and Daryl went off to go repair some fence and take care of any Walkers that broke through. The morning was chilly and everyone could now see their breath in the air. Maggie found me an oversized jacket that I could use. It was heavy and dark gray but it was warm, and that was all that mattered to me.

When they returned, Daryl recruited me into helping him break down his camp on the hill. Rick and Hershel wanted everyone in the house now, that way we safer and warmer. I wasn't complaining, and neither was anyone else.

"It'll be crowded with fifteen people living in the house," Rick said.

"We'll make room," Hershel insisted. "We should've moved you in a while ago."

"Alright," Rick said. "Everyone should pull the cars closer to the house, make a sort of barricade. We can put up a guard tower up in the windmill. Daryl, Terry, I want you two circling the property, make sure we're secure. We got a lot of work to do before we all get moved in."

Everyone spilt up to do their appropriate jobs and Daryl and I started off towards the north side of the fence. "Did you guys repair that fence that the Walker came through?" I asked.

"Yeah," Daryl said. "Tracked it all the way to some creek bed. The fences are good now, at least they are on the south side."

"Good," I said with a nod. We walked in silence, combing over the fence to make sure all was well. So far, I couldn't see anything wrong with the fence at all.

Daryl let me take the lead for a few minutes before pulling up right next to me. I glanced over at him, "So, you don't have your lonely camp anymore. Are you up to being around people again?" I raised one side of my mouth to let him know I was kidding.

He rolled his eyes at me. "Shut up." I let out a small laugh and he looked over at me with a smirk. "What 'bout you? I thought you didn't like crowds."

"I can handle them some times," I said. "I'd just need to get away so I can breathe."

"Remember to invite me next time you get claustrophobic." Daryl said. Although he said it in passing, I felt my face heat up when he said it. When we returned to the house, people were already claiming spots to sleep. Apparently Rick and Lori were getting the master bedroom and Hershel had the downstairs couch, other than that, everyone was fighting for the next best spot.

"Find me a good spot," Daryl said before looking over to Rick, who was pouring himself over a map. I promised him that I would and he brushed his hand against my arm. That lightning feeling shot through me again as he handed me his crossbow to mark his spot and he walked away, and I smiled at his back. Putting the crossbow on my shoulders, I walked up to the house and started to search for a good spot for Daryl.

There was a guest room on the first floor that had been claimed by Andrea and Carol. Patricia and Beth were sharing a room, and the living room turned into a rooming hall for the men. I saw that T-Dog and Glenn had already set up nests near the fireplace, and I saw where Jimmy had lain out a blanket as close as he could get to Beth's room. Daryl would hate being this close to the others, I thought as I left the living room to find somewhere else for him.

Upstairs, there was the master bedroom (already claimed by the Grimes family), Maggie's room, and another guest room. I looked inside the guest room and found that it was empty. There wasn't anyone's stuff in here, and no actual person was here. I sat Daryl's crossbow on the bed and left the room with the door shut. I had a feeling that no one knew about this room, otherwise they would've claimed it already.

Maggie walked up the stairs and spotted me. "Oh, Terry, if you need a room, I've got an extra bed in mine. I'd be willin' to share."

"You don't have to do that," I said.

She shook her head. "I want to. Besides, I think all the good spots are taken. Except that room behind you. Were you and Daryl plannin' on sharin'?"

"Good Lord, no," I said, feeling hot in the face. "He just told me to find him a good spot."

Maggie blinked. "Oh, I'm sorry for assuming."

"It's alright," I said, my face still red. "I know it's what everyone assuming."

"Does it bother you?" She asked. Maggie didn't seem like she was trying to be nosy, she was just curious.

I shrugged. "Sometimes it doesn't, but then every time I hang out with him or if we're just standing next to each other, I see people staring and I just want to-" I cut myself off, not knowing what to say next. Maggie nodded, understanding. She jerked her head to her bedroom, silently asking if I wanted to share. I nodded, grateful for the act of friendship.

I sat my stuff into the extra bed in Maggie's room and went back downstairs to find to camp in a frenzy. Maggie and I glanced at each other before running up to the others. "What happened?" I asked.

"Randal's missing," Glenn said.

"How?" Maggie asked, looking shocked.

Just then, Shane emerged from the woods, bloody and screaming that Randal got away. Rick gathered Glenn and Daryl and Shane, ordering everyone to go back inside the house. T-Dog was put in charge right before Rick, Shane, and Glenn left for the woods. Daryl turned to look at me, "Don't leave the house." He ordered, looking directly at me.

"What-?" I started.

"Don't argue with me, Yankee!" Daryl said roughly before pushing em in the direction of the house. Maggie gently grabbed my wrist and started to pull me back towards the house. I complied after the men disappeared.

The sun set quite quickly after that. I stayed on the porch, keeping watch until the men came back. The world around the house got even darker as I waited. The moon was just a small sliver in the sky and the stars were dim. It would appear that there were several clouds blocking out most of the air.

Out from the darkness came Glenn and Daryl and I quickly alerted the others. But my heart skipped a beat when I saw that Rick and Shane weren't with them. Lori voiced my concerns and Daryl said that they split up to cover more ground. "Could you go back out and look for him?" Lori asked.

A gun shot rang out from the woods. "What the hell?" I asked softly. We expected another gun shot, but it never came.

"They wouldn't waste one bullet," Lori breathed. She looked back down to Daryl and Glenn. "Could you _please _go and find them?"

Daryl nodded. "We'll find 'em." A second gun shot rang out and we all looked out into the black wall that was the thick, Georgia forest. Lori rushed back inside, probably to check on Carl. I stepped off the porch to stand beside Daryl.

"They're okay," I said out loud, almost as if I was trying to convince myself. Daryl looked down at me for a moment before I felt his fingers brush against mine. I extended my fingers ever so slightly and he went ahead and wrapped his fingers around mine. We stood that way for a long time as Glenn left us be to stand on top of the camper.

We heard Glenn cuss loudly from the camper. Daryl and I snapped our attention over to him and rushed over. "What d'you see?" Daryl asked.

Glenn looked down at us with sheer horror on his face. "Walkers. Hundreds of them." He climbed off the camper and we went back to the porch where the others had already gathered in mutual terror. Lori came out from inside, looking terrified.

"Carl's not upstairs, he's supposed to be up there!" She said. "I'm not leavin' without my boy!"

"We'll find him," Carol told her firmly before they hurried back inside.

Andrea returned from inside with the bag of guns slung over her shoulder. She sat the bag down and we each grabbed a shot gun. I held mine carefully in my hands; I was better with a handgun than with this thing.

"We'll kill as many as we can," Andrea said. "Lead the rest off the farm."

"You serious?" Daryl asked skeptically.

"This is my farm," Hershel said bluntly. "I'll die here."

Andrea, T-Dog, Glenn, Maggie, and Jimmy all went into different cars with Jimmy taking the camper. Daryl hopped onto his motorcycle. Right before he rode off, the redneck locked eyes with me and gave me a firm nod, silently telling me to be careful. I nodded back and loaded my gun as he drove off with the rest of the cars. I stood beside Hershel as we prepared to kill any Walkers that got too close to the house.

The farm suddenly had flames blazing up inside of it. I realized that Rick or Shane must've started the fire and I saw Jimmy drive the camper right up to the blazing barn. The wire fence that once kept us safe was torn down by a group of hungry Walkers and they started right towards me and Hershel.

"Get as many as you can!" Hershel shouted to me. I jerked my head in his direction and aimed before firing at the closest Walker. It went down easily. On and on it went as the two of us managed to keep the Walkers away from the house. But they started to get closer and closer, and it was getting harder to keep them separated. I barely heard Lori screaming at me and Hershel to come with them, but I couldn't leave Hershel. If I left him here, the Walkers would be on top of him in a second.

"Hershel, c'mon!" I screamed, beginning to back up. Hershel ignored me and my gun was now empty. I threw the now useless machinery onto the ground and backed away from the oncoming Walkers.

"Go!" Hershel screamed at me. "I'll cover you as much as I can!" I hesitated but had to obey his orders. I turned tail and ran away, hating myself for it. I quickly spotted Andrea and saw that a Walker was almost on top of her. I unsheathed my hatchet and charged, managing to slice open the Walker's head. Andrea turned around and gave me a thankful look that was interrupted by more Walkers.

"We can't stay here!" I said. Andrea nodded in agreement and grabbed my arm before pulling me into the woods. I tore my arm from her grip and we ran straight into the thick woodland, thinking we could loop around back to the highway.

* * *

><p>The sky had gotten lighter and Walkers were still chasing after me and Andrea. We were completely out of ammo now, relying on my hatchet whenever a Walker got too close. We tried to loop around back to the highway, but neither of us knew which way to go, and we were forced to run around in circles, trying to stay away from the small horde tailing us.<p>

We stopped for a few seconds, panting. I kept my hatchet ready. The blade was now covered in red up to the handle. Andrea looked up at me from where she was doubled over. "We can't keep going on like this."

"I know," I said, watching the oncoming horde like a hawk. "But we gotta get back to the others."

"They abandoned us, Terry!"

"No, they didn't! We _have _to go back." I glared at her for a few moments before jogging off in the direction I hoped was the highway. Andrea had no choice other than to follow me.

For a very long time, we went in circles, and we seemed to be finding even more Walkers. Andrea didn't have a weapon and I could only kill at extremely close range. We were outnumbered and out of breath. At some point, Andrea tripped and fell over, reaching out for me as she fell. Her hand gripped the gray jacket Maggie had given me and we both fell to the ground right as a Walker was on top of us. Andrea and I let out shrill screams.

The swish of a blade made us both shut up.


	24. 24: Reunited

Michonne took Andrea and I to a small house probably a few miles away from the farm. She didn't talk much, just told us her name and that she'd help us. Andrea and I didn't know what to do at first; this woman had two Walkers on chains following her. I stared at the mutilated creatures; their jaws were missing and so were their arms. Michonne didn't explain, just led us through the woods.

A fire was built inside the house, and Michonne reached into her backpack and pulled out a pot I recognized as something a military personnel would have. She poured bottled water into the pot and sat it down on the fire. When the water was boiled, she dumped a packet of noodles into the boiling water. Andrea and I glanced at each other as Michonne silently worked.

She finished making Ramen noodles for us and we had to pass the pot around as everyone took a turn eating the fast-cooked meal. Every now and then, I'd look out the window and check the sun's position in the sky. By the time we finished, the sun was almost set.

"We should find the others," I said. "Tomorrow when it's light out."

Michonne looked at me sharply while Andrea sighed. "Terry, they're probably long gone by now."

"You can't tell me you really think that," I said. "They are our _family_. We can't just give up on them."

"Family? Terry, even if they did try to find us, they've probably given up by now." Andrea said a tad more softly now. I could hear the pity in her voice and I hated it.

"Well I can't stay here knowing that they're somewhere nearby." I snapped. Michonne was watching us going back and forth as if she was watching a tennis match.

Andrea met my eyes slowly. "Terry, I know what they meant to you. What Daryl meant to you-"

"Don't bring him up in this conversation, please." I snapped. "Use any card you want against me, but do _not _bring Daryl freaking Dixon into this. This isn't about me and him, this is about our entire group and how you're not even going to try to find them."

She didn't say anything, just stared at me with that pity in her gaze. I shook my head and left the house to go stand outside. As I stared into the complete darkness, I considered going out there on my own. The door opened behind me and in a second Michonne was standing beside me. I kept my eyes off of her and looked over at her two Walkers instead.

"Why do you keep them?" I asked, nodding to them.

Michonne blinked. "They keep the others away, act as camouflage."

I nodded, now understanding why. "Clever. How'd you figure it out?"

She shrugged and didn't say anything. We stood there in the cold for a little while before she spoke. "That group of yours, Andrea told me you had a boy there with you, Daryl?"

I let out an angry sigh. "He wasn't my boy. And he's not the only reason I want to get back."

"Do you even know if any of them are still alive?" Michonne asked. I didn't answer. She continued. "What if you left in the morning like you said you would? You don't have food or ammo for that gun of yours. There's no way you can find a car that still runs and has a full tank of gas. And if a large group found you and caught you, you wouldn't be able to fight them off."

"What about you?" I asked. "Apparently you've been on your own with the corpses all this time."

Michonne blinked. "I turned myself into someone worth of others' fear. I'm not saying you shouldn't go after your group, but if you do, you won't be able to find me or Andrea again."

I ducked my head and closed my eyes. "Fine. But as soon as I have enough supplies, I'm gone." Michonne nodded and we entered the house again.

* * *

><p>It was a long several months of nonstop moving. I decided not to leave Andrea or Michonne. It was better to have two people watching my back than be completely alone. Winter was over and my gray jacket lived at the bottom of my backpack. Andrea, unfortunately, had gotten very sick around the end of winter, and she was barely hanging on anymore.<p>

"We need to find medicine," Michonne said grimly one day. Andrea coughed and insisted that she was fine. "You're not fine!" Michonne exclaimed, using the occasional emotion that she never really showed. I laughed at her sudden break in character. We moved slowly along the road until we came across something very particular: a pillar of black smoke coming from the woods.

Andrea started to follow the smoke, leaving me and Michonne to follow. We reached the source in a matter of minutes, right before Andrea doubled over and puked. I wrinkled my nose and tried to get a good look at the helicopter wreckage from where we were standing.

"Should I get closer?" I asked.

"Together," Michonne said with a nod. We left Andrea by the camouflage Walkers and carefully approached the helicopter.

We hadn't even started to search when we heard the sound of tires. Michonne and I glanced at each other once before running back to Andrea. Almost as soon as we hid, two intimidating Jeeps pulled up and several well-muscled men got out of them. I tensed at the sight of so many people; it'd been ages since we had even seen another living person.

One man, a lean and well-groomed looking man, was leading the search. I kept my eyes on him, making sure he didn't come any closer to us. From beside us, the camouflage Walkers started to get restless. Their chains were rattling loudly; I stared between Michonne and the Walkers, scared of the men hearing them and finding us. Andrea coughed quietly from beside me and I saw the lean man look around suspiciously.

Michonne, swift as ever, stood up and sliced off the heads of the camouflage Walkers with two solid strokes of her katana. The men by the helicopter were still, listening for any more sounds of rattling chains. I held my breath, not even daring to breathe. The lean man gave the order to fall out and them group slowly retreated.

A snap of branches behind us came too close too late and right as Michonne started to raise her katana to fight back, a voice I hadn't heard in months sounded right behind me.

"Easy does it," It said. Andrea and I looked at each other; we had both been there the last time we saw him alive. I turned around slowly and made eye contact with none other than Merle Dixon.

Merle's eyes widened slightly at the sight of me and Andrea. "Holy shit. Blondie and Yankee; damn, y'all look good." A Walker came up from behind him and Merle raised his right hand-or where his right hand should've been because there was a freaking _blade attached to a metal holster there_-and sliced through the Walker's head. When it fell to the ground, Merle stood up, grinning down at the two of us like he had just gotten the best Christmas presents ever. "Now, how about a hug for your old pal Merle?"


	25. 25: Woodbury

Andrea had fainted the second she saw Merle. He tried to pick her up, but I forced his metal stump away and Michonne and I put Andrea between us. Merle took us to the lean man, who called himself the Governor. The second I heard the name, I frowned. Michonne gave me a look and she was thinking the same thing I was. But we were forced to go with the group of strong men as they drove their Jeeps back to their camp.

The thought of Randal from all those months ago came into my mind. He had said that he came from a group of thirty men who killed other men who weren't strong and they did awful things to the women. I glared around at the men around me; was this the same group Randal had been apart of? Some guy who looked to be twenty years old was giving me looks that made my skin crawl, but other than that the men just gave me and Michonne cautious looks. We were allowed to keep our weapons, but we both kept tight grips on both the katana and hatchet.

Merle didn't talk to me again for the entire ride back to their camp. I knew a conversation was coming up sooner or later, and I was in no hurry to start talking to Merle again.

The road turned a corner and I stared at the wall made of truck tires and planks of wood. I glanced at Michonne; she looked just as caught of guard as I did. The gates slid open slowly as the Jeeps approached and my jaw dropped when I actually saw the inside of the camp.

Their camp was a town, and actual town with buildings that looked like they hadn't been effected since the apocalypse. People dressed in clean, every day clothes walked around the streets. I saw elderly people older than Hershel and little kids younger than Carl. I even saw some women wearing makeup. The Jeeps pulled over and a small crowd of civilians gathered around, looking curiously at me, Michonne, and Andrea (she was still passed out). My grip on my hatchet was so tight now, my knuckles were white. A nearby woman wearing a sundress pulled a little girl behind her and the mother gave me an untrusting gaze.

"Calm down there, Yankee," Merle hissed to me. I ignored him and got out of the Jeep, Michonne right behind me. Before we could even turn around to get Andrea, two men carrying a stretcher appeared and tried to shove us out of the way. One of them roughly grabbed my arm to push me aside and I responded by unsheathing my hatchet and holding it against the man's throat.

The sounds of guns loading and Michonne's katana being unsheathing came and the man under my blade was staring at me with wide eyes.

"Now, now," The Governor said from the front end of the Jeep. "There's no need for violence. We just wanna make sure your friend gets proper medical care." I glared at him and slowly lowered my hatchet. My blade left a red mark on the man's throat. The others lowered their weapons, even Michonne. The two men took Andrea and Michonne and I were forced to follow. Some Hispanic guy took our weapons then.

When we were inside, Merle fell into step with me. "Well, you've changed, Yankee."

The nickname made my chest hurt. No one called me that anymore, and the person who used that nickname the most was Daryl. Merle must've sensed that he hit a nerve and I half expected him to say something. But he didn't. The Governor led us through a maze of hallways to a bedroom that was being substituted as a doctor's office. A heavy-set black woman was standing in there, holding a clipboard. She looked up as we all entered.

"I'd like these three ladies a basic checkup." The Governor said. "You should hook up the blond one to some , make sure she's okay."

"I know how to do my job," The lady said with a smile at him. The two men with the stretcher sat Andrea down on one of the beds and the lady quickly put an I.V into Andrea's arm. The two men left, the one I attacked gave me a burning glare as he passed. I ignored him as the lady checked out Andrea and deemed the reason she fainted was because she was dehydrated. Then it was my turn.

The lady took my arm and took a sample of my blood. I didn't say a word throughout the entire checkup, taking up Michonne's method of how to deal with strangers. I only spoke when the lady asked my age. "Twenty-five," I said curtly. The Governor and Merle left the room as the lady started to inspect Michonne.

It was nighttime before Andrea woke up. She was extremely disorientated and the Governor had to come back into our new bedroom to explain to us where we were. No one had told me or Michonne anything, and I was feeling more and more uneasy as more time went by.

"Where are we?" Andrea asked.

The Governor smiled at her. "Follow me." He left the room and the three of us were lead to the front door of the house we were living in. He opened the door and showed Andrea what she missed earlier. "Welcome to Woodbury."

Andrea gaped at the peaceful and beautiful street. While she stared at Woodbury, I saw something ignite in her that I hadn't seen since the Greene farm. She loved this place instantly. Michonne noticed something different inside of Andrea too, because she looked as caught off guard as I did. The Governor continued to gush about how his community was completely safe from Walkers. I scoffed when I heard him call them Biters.

The guard who kept giving me lustful looks in the Jeep was back, and he continued to give me those looks. I glared hard at him until he looked away with a smile on his face. Merle suddenly snapped, "Ross! Get back to your post!" The creepy guy nodded at Merle and gave me one last look before walking away into the darkness. Merle raised an eyebrow at me but said nothing.

We went back inside the house and Michonne, Andrea, and I were taken back to our room. There was a queen sized bed and a couch a little ways away. Andrea and Michonne got the bed and I took the couch, the three of us deciding that we'll take turns sleeping on the couch. But I stayed up even after I heard Andrea and Michonne start to snore softly. I paced around the room, looked out of the window several times, and held my ears against the door. This place didn't give me the same safe feeling that the farm gave me.

I thought about Merle and how Daryl had wanted to search for him. And now, here he was, safe out of Atlanta with a strong group. And by the looks of it, Merle was a respected group member here, much more than how he was with the group in Atlanta. If it was even possible to find Daryl and the others, would Merle want to go with us to find them?


	26. 26: Three Days

The next morning, we all woke up to fresh clothes neatly folded on the dresser. I felt violated at the thought of someone coming in here while we were sleeping. Michonne looked the same way, but Andrea looked like she was going to thank every member of Woodbury. Michonne didn't bother taking any of the clothes, but even I couldn't turn down clean and fresh clothes when they showed up.

I put on the fresh jeans and the clean blue shirt. Andrea had similar clothes, but it was a white blouse instead of a shirt. "When do you think they came in here?" I asked, buttoning the jeans. Andrea shrugged.

"Does it matter?" She asked. "I wonder if they've made breakfast yet."

"Whatever happened to that rule we had on the road?" I asked Michonne, who was searching drawers.

"Never eat anything if you haven't seen where it came from," Michonne said without looking up.

Andrea rolled her eyes. "Which is why we only ate squirrels and rabbits."

"Thank Daryl for teaching me how to catch those," I said. "Oh, and you're welcome, by the way."

"Well, I'm tired of eating squirrels and rabbits," Andrea said. "Think about it, you two. Doesn't a good, home-cooked breakfast sound good to you?"

"If I know where that breakfast came from, yeah, then and only then it sounds good." Michonne said stonily, finally ending her search. "We should leave here as soon as possible."

Andrea stared at her. "Why? This place is amazing!"

"Let's just scope out the place first," I said. "Make sure that this town is as safe as that Governor wants us to believe." Andrea looked like she still wanted to argue but she nodded in agreement anyway. Michonne jerked her head in agreement, and we left the room. Once we were completely outside, we walked around slowly, making sure that everything was as good as it seemed.

We were only outside for a full minute when Merle walked over to us, the blade on his metal stump missing. I stopped walking and narrowed my eyes at him. Andrea glanced at me, probably thinking the same thing I was. Merle went over to us with a smile on his face.

"Well, good morning, sleeping beauties," Merle said. Michonne stiffened. Andrea and I gave each other a glance. Merle jerked his head, gesturing for us to follow him. I hesitated but went after him; Andrea and Michonne following me. He led us into a large room with long tables and my mouth watered at the smell of cooked food. "Get yourselves a plate. Then sit over there; I wanna hear 'bout what happened."

Following Merle's orders, the three of us grabbed plates. After checking the food carefully, I loaded my plate with eggs, sausage, bacon, and a tall glass of orange juice. Michonne and Andrea did the same, though Michonne only put one thing of each on her plate, as if not wanting to take too much for fear of owing these people. We walked over to where Merle had sat down over in the corner of the room. The three of us sat down across from him, and he took in both me and Andrea before speaking.

"Where's the rest of y'all's group?" He asked.

Andrea and I glanced at each other. I looked back at Merle. "Back in Atlanta, a lot of us didn't make it. Jim, Jacqui, Dale, Sophia," I paused. "Amy."

Merle looked at Andrea. "Your sister? I'm sorry; she was a good kid." Andrea nodded without looking at him. Merle glanced back at me, waiting for me to continue.

"There were others," I said. "A lot others. We had to leave Atlanta, we found a farm." I hesitated, the memory hurting me. "Daryl stepped up. He became a valued member of the group."

"He taught Terry how to track and hunt." Andrea said. Merle raised an eyebrow at me. I turned my attention to the food. Andrea continued. "That kept us alive during the winter."

Merle looked over at me, his expression slightly softer. "Well then, you must've been somethin' special to him then if he taught you what he knew."

"They were with each other every day," Andrea said, cutting across me.

Merle snorted. "When was the last time y'all saw him?"

I sighed and looked over at Merle. "I think it's been seven or eight months. We got overrun by a herd on that farm; Andrea and I got separated from the rest."

"I know what that's like, Yankee." Merle said, nodding slightly. He was looking at me different than before. "I'll talk to you ladies later, until then, y'all take it easy. All three of you are exhausted and starving." He walked around the table and as he passed me, he patted my shoulder.

* * *

><p>We wandered around outside the neighborhood for quite a while; the guards carrying guns didn't really look at us twice. Michonne scoped out the walls surrounding the town, while Andrea seemed to be absorbing the peaceful feel of Woodbury. I did a sort of both, as much as I didn't like it here, I had to admit that it felt nice to be behind tall walls for the first time. At the farm, we only had seclusion and wire fences; here they had walls made out of truck tires and wood and stone.<p>

That afternoon when we returned to our room, I voiced my opinion about this place. "I say we stay here for a few days, then head back out there. We can gather supplies and get our strength back."

"I agree," Michonne said immediately. We both looked over at Andrea. "What do you say?"

Andrea shook her head. "I agree with you. We get our bearings and leave."

"Three days?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Michonne and Andrea nodded in agreement and that matter was settled. I became determined that we wouldn't stay here for more than three days.


	27. 27: Family

The guard named Ross was starting to creep me out. He started showing up wherever I went and he kept looking at me as if I was stripped naked in front of him. I didn't want to voice my worried to Michonne or Andrea; if they knew they'd want to put the guy in his place. I wanted to ignore him until we finally left. Then and only then would the pest be out of my hair.

Michonne, Andrea, and I didn't really go anywhere by ourselves. Everywhere we went, we went together, or with one person at the least. We didn't even go outside a lot; the only time we left was to get food. On the first day out of our three, Michonne and Andrea went out to get more food. I was left inside the apartment of ours when a knock came on the door. I got up, assuming it was Michonne and Andrea, but instead I got Ross.

"Hey there, Yankee," He said with a sly grin.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Don't call me that."

"Merle calls you that. In fact, I'm pretty sure he doesn't know your real name; he just calls you Yankee."

"Good for Merle." I said, making a move to close the door in his face. But Ross put his foot in the way and stopped me. I glared at him. "Is there something you want?"

Ross bit the tip of his tongue so that I could see it. "Well, now that you mentioned it..." He started to lean forward. I slammed the door in his face, hitting him square in the nose and causing him to be forced back. "God dammit!" He cursed. I snorted.

"Let's make one thing crystal clear," I said. "Nothing is _ever _going to happen between us, so you can forget it. Now is there anything else you need?"

He glared up at me, blood running down his nose. "The Governor wants you and your friends to have lunch with him at noon."

"Was that so hard?" I asked sarcastically before closing the door. When Andrea and Michonne came back, I didn't tell them about how I broke Ross's nose, I just repeated the message about lunch with the Governor.

About eleven-forty-five, one of the guards came for us and escorted us to the Governor's apartment. Michonne took up the back of the group, looking over her shoulder every now and then. We finally made it to the Governor's apartment and he sat us down at a table with another man who was wearing a beige suit and glasses. I blinked, unused to the clothes he was wearing and sat down beside him. The Governor started to bring food to the table.

"I'm surprised you three made it eight months out there by yourselves," The Governor started.

"Why? Because we're women?" Andrea asked. I narrowed my eyes at the Governor for his answer.

"Because you were alone," He replied smoothly.

Andrea looked at both me and Michonne. "We had each other. That was all we needed."

The Governor laughed slightly. "Three against the world? Those are some long odds."

"We managed," I said, looking down at the eggs the Governor was serving us. He looked down at me and gave me a smile.

"Consider me impressed," He said.

"Me too," The man with the glasses said for the first time. He reached out his hand for me to shake. Hesitating, I took it. "Milton." I gave him a polite nod and caught a glimpse of my gun and my hatchet in a glass case. Milton looked at us. "The two Biters you had in chains, who were they?"

I froze and glanced at Michonne. She stiffened as everyone looked over to her. Milton quickly figured out, "You knew them before, didn't you? The way you controlled them and kept them close suggests that you did."

Andrea must've sensed the same tense nerves coming from Michonne because she changed the subject by asking about how Woodbury worked. While the Governor made some joke about high walls, I patted Michonne's arm slightly, knowing full well that the subject about those two Walkers was a very personal one. Even Andrea and I had no clue who they were in Michonne's life.

"When are we getting those back?" I asked, nodding to our weapons in the glass case. The Governor turned and followed my gaze.

"You will receive your weapons back before y'all leave." He replied smoothly. "We can't have you ladies wandering around town with weapons. You could set our citizens on edge."

I nodded. "Makes sense." I still felt naked without my hatchet, though. Throughout winter, I had become dependent on that weapon. I had gotten it from Rick and Shane, and that hatchet made me feel safer. I was tempted to announce that I'd be leaving early just so that I could have it back. When the lunch was over, the three of us left the Governor's apartment. We walked in silence for a while before Andrea started to speak.

"They seem decent," Andrea said. Michonne glanced at her sharply, not saying anything. Andrea glanced between me and Michonne. "What d'you think?"

Michonne continued her silence as we walked down the street. I glanced around at the women wearing sundresses to the men standing atop the tall walls surrounding the street. Looking back at Andrea, I said, "This place is as secure as it's going to get. But I think we should still leave in a few days." Michonne nodded in agreement with me.

Andrea gave me the same pitying look she'd been giving me all winter every time I said I wanted to continue moving. "Terry, I know what you've been holding onto. But we've wandered around those woods all winter and we never came across a sign that Rick and the others were alive and out there." I noticed that she didn't say Daryl's name. I looked away from her as she continued. "If any of them were still out there, don't you think we would've run into them by now?"

"Considering that we stayed as far away from the highway and farm as possible," I said, glaring at her. Michonne glanced between us as we went back and forth. Some civilians had stopped nearby and were listening to the bitter exchange. I ignored them and glared at Andrea. "You never _tried _to find them. You never _wanted _find them."

"Listen Terry," Andrea said, finally looking angry with me. "I understand your relationship with Daryl-"

"Would you please stop bringing him into this?" I asked, the pitch of my voice getting higher. A pretty woman with curly, black hair stopped walking with her friend and they tried not to make it look like they were staring. "Daryl is not the issue here. The issue is you not caring about our family enough to go looking for them!"

"Family?" Andrea repeated. "They were your family, not mine."

"After everything Dale did for you, that's what you think of him?" I asked. Andrea's eyes flashed. But before the conversation could get any more heated, Michonne stepped between us.

"This is not the place," She said, glaring around at all of the civilians who stood around watching. The Woodbury civilians ducked their heads and started moving away. "If you two want to fight about this, do it in privacy, not in front of the whole town." I turned away and started to walk away. "Where are you going?" Michonne asked.

I didn't answer and rounded a corner of the street, blocking myself from their vision. After walking around for a while, I found myself in some sort of garden area; lush greenery filled the small area and a water fountain sat it the center. I moved around slowly; I hadn't seen a place like this since before the outbreak. I found a bench and sat down, staring at the garden.

"Well, that was dramatic," Merle's voice said from the garden entrance. He moved around until he was sitting on the next bench. I didn't look over at him, I just stared at the fountain. Merle was silent for a while. "I heard that Andrea brought up my brother to you, and you freaked out at the mention of him."

I exhaled. "I'm not expecting you to understand, Merle, but Daryl and I became friends after you were gone. Out of the whole group, I was closest to him."

"I get it, Yankee." Merle said. "I want to get back to him too." I glanced over at Merle, understanding him for the first time. "You and your company of ladies are leavin' in a few days. If y'all find my brother again, send word back here and let me know."

"I'll do that," I said, nodding at him. Merle jerked his head and stood up to leave. But right before he left the garden area, he stopped and glanced at me.

"Oh, and I never got to thank you for gettin' me that saw," Merle said. "If you didn't, I wouldn't be here right now." He started to walk away again.

I turned around. "Hey Merle, this Governor of yours, can we trust him?"

Merle frowned at me. "When he found me, I was 'bout bled out. He could've kept moving, but he stopped for me. So, I think you can trust him."

"Thank you, Merle," I said, turning back around and turning my back on him. I heard his footsteps walk away.


	28. 28: Escape From Woodbury

I spent the next two days trying to gather up some supplies. Michonne was glad to help; she wanted to get out of Woodbury as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Andrea seemed to find time to wander around on her own. I didn't bother to try and keep her close; I was still pissed off about the argument from the day before. I had just returned to the apartment, when I found Michonne pacing.

"What's up?" I asked, noticing her uneasy behavior right away.

"I don't trust that Governor," Michonne said.

"That makes two of us," I replied. "Why are you telling me this now?" Michonne explained how she checked out the walls and found bullet holes on the new military Jeeps. Then she mentioned the fresh blood on the Jeeps and I stiffened. "That military settlement, they found, you think they killed all of the men there?"

"I wouldn't put it past them," Michonne said bitterly.

I sighed. "We're leaving today. In an hour or two, this entire town is going to be a distant memory." Michonne allowed a small grin at the thought of that and the door opened with Andrea. "Oh good, you're here. Now we can actually start planning our escape from this town." Andrea narrowed her eyes at the word "escape."

Michonne pulled out her map and spread it out. "You mentioned that your group considered going to Fort Benning; maybe we head that way, and if they're not there, go for the coast. We can find a boat, maybe an island where there are no Walkers."

Andrea looked down. "What if the coast isn't safe?"

"Then we keep moving," I said. "We'll have water all on one side; makes it one less side we need to worry about."

"And say the coast is safe, then what? We hunker down and grow old, just the three of us."

Michonne snorted. "Sounds better out there than staying in here."

Andrea rolled her eyes. "You two are just being paranoid. There's nothing wrong with this place, or with the Governor."

"Who mentioned the Governor?" I asked sharply.

"It's in your face, Terry," Andrea said. I narrowed my eyes at her and glanced out the window where a bunch of civilians were gathering. "Just give this place more of a chance, and I think we could all find something we like. Terry, I know you and Merle looked like you were coming friends."

"Really?" I asked. "I can't find Daryl so you try and pin the brother on me? They may have the same last name, the same genes, but Merle's not Daryl. And I'm friendly with Merle; we're not friends." Andrea narrowed her eyes at me but said nothing.

* * *

><p>An hour later, our bags were packed and ready to go. The only thing we needed was our weapons before we left. I desperately missed my hatchet; that thing had kept me alive. Michonne and I were in our apartment, waiting for Andrea to come back with the weapons. When she finally returned, she was empty-handed.<p>

Andrea quickly explained that she wanted to stay. Michonne and I glanced at one another. "We had an agreement, Andrea. Three days, that was it." I said.

"We don't wanna walk into any trouble that we can't get out of." Andrea said. "So we should leave tomorrow or the following day. It is just a day or two."

"We heard you the first time," Michonne snapped before leaving the room. Andrea turned back to me, but I glared at her.

"I'm still leaving, Andrea," I said firmly. "I'll go my own way without you and without Michonne."

"You wouldn't go out there on your own,"

"Watch me," I snapped, grabbing my backpack and storming out of the room after Michonne. I felt Andrea's eyes watch me go, but I ignored the burning gaze and walked out of the building. As I passed Michonne, I told her what I was doing. Michonne narrowed her eyes at me.

"You're willing to leave Andrea here?" She asked.

"If she's willing to stay here," I snapped. "I've listened to her all winter, and I've done what she has wanted to do. She may not want to find our old group, but I do. They're my family, and I can't just sit here and do nothing while they're out there."

Michonne blinked. "You don't even know where to start looking,"

"If she wants to go," Andrea cut in, showing up out of nowhere. "Then let her. We obviously can't force each other to stay." I met her eyes and glanced at Michonne. Our silent friend glanced between us and turned to me.

"I can't let you go out there alone," She said solemnly. "Andrea, this right here is your last chance." Andrea gaped at the pair of us. When she didn't answer, I looked at the two of them.

"I'm going to leave now." I said. "I'll go back to that daycare we stayed in. It should be somewhere near here. I'll stay there for two days, in case you guys try to follow. But on that third day, I'm gonna move on with or without you guys." I glanced around us and lowered my voice. "Don't tell that Governor about this setup though; we might as well make them think that we're separating."

Michonne nodded in agreement with my plan, though she looked like she disagreed. Andrea stared at me, but she said nothing. I turned my back on them and walked to the gates. Ross and Merle were on guard.

"You leaving, princess?" Ross shouted down to me. I glared up at him, wanting to snap at him, but Merle beat him to it.

"Watch the damn line, Ross." Merle snapped. Ross winked at me and turned around. Merle climbed down from the wall and towered over me. "You're leavin', Yank?"

I nodded. "Yes. And I want my gun and hatchet back." Merle nodded in understanding and sent some other guard to get my weapons back. When he returned, I happily put my gun on my hip and my hatchet on the other. "And now I feel complete."

Merle snorted in amusement, the same way Daryl did. "You be careful out there, Yankee. And remember what I said about findin' my brother."

"Will do," I said as the gates opened. I glanced away from the gates and saw Michonne and Andrea standing farther away, watching me. I held up two fingers, reminding them about the arrangement. With that, I walked out of Woodbury. Once the gates were closed again, I walked calmly until I was out of the sights of Ross on the wall, and then I broke into a run.

* * *

><p>The daycare was easy enough to find, but the sun was almost gone by the time I did find it. The old and slightly decayed playground was out in the front. I smiled at the sight of familiarity and hopped the chain-link fence into the playground. As I approached the door, I instantly knew something was different. One of the front windows was smashed in. I unsheathed my hatchet and approached the daycare with extreme caution.<p>

I climbed through the broken window and glanced around. A few of the drawers and cabinets were wide open. I glanced inside and saw that supplies like diapers, baby wipes, and bottles were missing. I closed the cabinets and continued around the entire building, checking every classroom until I was sure that no one was here. Although the daycare showed signs of people being here, whoever was here had left.

The daycare didn't have any food; I scavenged the whole place and only found some traces of animal blood in one closet. It was a good thing I had packed some food from Woodbury into my backpack. I pulled out the protein bars and made those my dinner. There wasn't a need to break out the canned goods just yet. I had just finished eating when I heard the sound of approaching footsteps. I unsheathed the hatchet and braced myself right as Michonne entered the room with her katana ready.

I looked over her shoulder and saw that she was alone. "Where's Andrea?" I asked.

"She chose to stay," Michonne said. I deflated; I had really been hoping that Andrea would choose to come.

The next morning, we left the daycare and started into the woods. We were in silence for a while, but then Michonne stopped me and looked around suspiciously. I followed her gaze and tensed up. "Do you think they're following us?"

"They might be," Michonne said. "I left them a message before it got dark last night."

"A message?"

"I had to use a Walker to tell them to go back,"

I snorted. "Did they listen?"

"Don't know, I left before they even showed up." Michonne replied. We continued on through the woods for a long time, until we heard voices coming from our left. Michonne hissed lightly before jumping up into one of the trees. "Follow me!" She hissed at me.

I stared up the tree, knowing full well I couldn't climb for shit. So I kneeled down closer to the ground and flattened myself against the forest floor. From underneath the bush I was hiding, I saw heavy boots. I lowered my breathing and tried to flatten myself even lower to the ground. Their voices floated down to the ground and to my ears.

"You really think they're together?" A young voice asked.

"The Governor heard that Yankee was leavin' first," Merle's voice said. "Apparently, Yankee's the leader of this operation. She told the other two to find her later."

I heard Ross's voice hum. "I do love me a girl who's in charge," I felt bile rise up in my throat.

Merle scoffed. "As if Yankee would go for a jackass like you. Besides, when we get her and the mute back, no one's gonna be with them." He paused. "We know you ladies are out there. Why don't y'all c'mon out and see your old pal Merle, huh?"

I turned my head slightly and glanced up at Michonne. She locked eyes with me and nodded. Then, with one fluid motion, she leapt out of the tree and I sprang from the bushes. I swung my hatchet at the closest person-a man with a beard whose name I never bothered to learn-and the blade slammed down against his shoulder. He screamed at the top of his lungs that were matched by the teenager that Michonne had just cut.

Walkers started approaching, due to the fact that the screams and gunshots were being heard from every direction. I heard Michonne scream in pain as a bullet hit her thigh. I glared over at the shooter-Ross-and I swung my hatchet down on the back of his elbow, completely cutting the arm in half. He screamed bloody murder and dropped to the ground. I turned to Merle to see him pointing a gun at my head.

"Don't make me kill you, Yankee," Merle hissed. I stared at him, not sure why he was trying to save my life. A Walker was suddenly right on top of his shoulder. Merle turned around to deal with it and I quickly grabbed Michonne by the arm and we started to haul ass out of there.

We weren't moving very far when I saw Walkers heading our way. "We can't keep moving like this," I hissed through my teeth. I leaned Michonne against a tree and took down the Walkers easily, but then I went the extra mile and ripped open their bellies.

"What the hell are you doing?" Michonne asked, staring at me as if she had never seen me before.

"Camouflage," I replied. I pulled out one of the raincoats from my backpack and smeared Walker guts all over it. When it was finished, I handed the disgusting raincoat to Michonne. She put it on while I made another camouflage plastic poncho. Once we were both successfully hidden from Walkers, I supported Michonne as we moved slowly through the woods.

We made it to a small convenience store but we heard voices as we got closer. We stopped moving at the corner to listen. The second I heard the voices, the hair on the back of my neck stood straight up.

"D'you think we should bring her toys?"

"I dunno; just make sure there's formula. We don't wanna go back to the prison empty handed."

"Yes ma'am,"

Those voices belonged to Glenn and Maggie.


	29. 29: Back Where I Belong

I wanted to rush out and reveal myself to them immediately. But Michonne held me back. "Those people are from my old group," I hissed at her. Michonne raised her eyebrows slightly, but said nothing. I braced myself to go out there and see my friends for the first time in eight months, but a gunshot interrupted the entire thought process. I peeked around the building to see none other than Merle, holding Maggie captive, looking over at Glenn with glee and surprise.

"Shit," I cursed, forced to watch Merle force them into a car and back towards Woodbury. Michonne and I kept perfectly still as they passed. Once the red car I recognized as Hershel's drive away, I moved towards where they were taken. Michonne called after me softly, but I kept moving until I found the red plastic basket filled to the rim with baby supplies. Michonne caught up to me.

"We have to go find their prison," I said firmly. "This here tells me that they're alive and that Lori's had her baby. If Glenn and Maggie never got back, they would never know what happened, and that baby could die."

Michonne's face had closed off the second I said baby. "You don't have to tell twice. Let's go find that prison."

We started down the road, having only a slim idea where to go. I carried the basket of baby supplies and Michonne managed to keep up with me, but her thigh was still giving her trouble. I tried slowing down for her, but my excitement and anticipation about seeing the old group again made me move faster than her. Finally, after forty minutes of walking, we found the prison.

The place looked like a fortress. High chain-link fences and guard towers surrounded a lush, green field. Several buildings made up the prison and from where I stood I could see a concrete courtyard. Michonne started down the hill and towards the fences without me. I quickly outpaced her and we were so close to the fence when I saw a figure I had been dreaming of seeing again for a long time.

Rick had seen better days. He had a beard now and his hair seemed darker from sweat and lack of cleanliness. His eyes had a sort of sunken in look to them but they still shined bright blue. Michonne glanced at me before heading towards him. Rick stopped walking along the fence when he saw us, and from where I stood, I could see his eyes widen at the sight of me. I got closer, tears welling up in my eyes at the sight of him. I kept moving until I was almost up against the fence.

Rick stared at me as if he was seeing a ghost. I remained silent, begging him with my eyes that he'd take the chance to let me and Michonne in. Rick suddenly began to move down the fence to a slit in the fence being held together by a red cord. I quickly glanced at Michonne before limping towards him, Michonne keeping a slight distance from me and Rick. My old friend held the slit open as Michonne and I entered the fence. I quickly stripped the plastic poncho off and threw it on the ground.

I looked up at Rick and with a mutual movement, we pulled each other into a bone crushing embrace. I didn't realize how much I missed Rick until I held him; he smelt like sweat, but at the moment, it was the most comforting smell in the world. We finally pulled away from each other and I remembered Michonne standing behind me.

"Um, this is Michonne," I introduced them. "She saved my life back last winter." I suddenly remembered why we had come in the first place and told Rick all about Glenn and Maggie and what happened with Merle. Rick's brow furrowed as he listened. When we finished, Rick ordered us to follow him and he began to lead us up the gates and into the courtyard of the prison.

I stared around the courtyard, surprised by the security of this place. There were steel tables and benches, areas where there could be a garden, and strong stone walls and high fences. Michonne and I glanced at each other, and I could tell that she was thinking the same thing I was. That this place was safe for the most part.

"Wait right here," Rick ordered. I nodded at him right before he went into the steel gates that led into the prison.

"How do you know you can still trust them?" Michonne asked immediately. I blinked at her, not surprised by the lack of trust she had with these new people. Michonne had always been cautious around people as a whole, for reasons I had no way of understanding. She was very secretive, but she had saved my life countless times during the winter, so I didn't bother asking.

"Let's just say that I wasn't a strong person when Rick found me." I said, remembering that day when he found me on the side of the road. "He could've kept driving, but he didn't. I trust these people with my life."

"They left you and Andrea behind after that farm incident," Michonne pointed out.

"And I have to believe that they had no choice," I countered, my voice getting firmer. "I have to believe that they tried to come back for me." Michonne didn't answer, just held my gaze and shook her head. I broke the strong gaze as the metal door to the prison burst open. I sucked in my breath at the sight of who was standing out of it, staring at me as if I was a ghost.

Daryl Dixon was looking at me with disbelieving eyes. I took a few steps away from Michonne and towards Daryl, but I stopped short. The metal door opened again and more people came out, but I didn't even bother looking at them. My eyes were all for Daryl. He refused to tear his eyes from me. And then he rushed forward and I found myself rushing towards him too. We collided with one another and I wrapped my arms tightly around him and I felt as if my rip cage was going to be crushed by the strength he was putting into hugging me back.

Daryl and I stood like that for a while, relishing in being back in one another's presence. We separated for a second before he lowered his head so that it rested right on top of my shoulder. I wrapped one arm around his shoulders and the other around his neck, holding him as tightly as I could. We separated finally and I blinked away the tears that had been forming in my eyes. I finally looked away from Daryl and saw the others, standing and waiting patiently for me to go and greet them.

"Well, look who's back from the dead," Hershel said with a smile. I first noticed that he now had a long beard. Then I noticed that one of his legs were gone. I blinked at it before moving forward and hugging the old man. When I separated from him, Beth hugged me tightly. I reunited with Carl and Carol, and I felt my heart break just a little when I saw that Lori and T-Dog were missing from the group.

There were two new people in the group, and they stood at the edge as if they didn't really belong. One was a very tall black man while the other was white with long blond hair and a curly mustache. The blond man nodded at me kindly. I jerked my head back at him before looking back at my old group. Beth walked forward with a bundle in her arms.

I sucked in my breath at the sight of a baby. Beth carefully slid the baby into my arms. The wide eyes blinked up at me and I found myself smiling down at it. I glanced over at Michonne. She was standing at the very edge of the crowd, staring at the bundle in my arms. Carl took the plastic basket from my side and took it inside the prison. I handed the baby back to Beth and looked around at my old group, my family.

Daryl had not left my side ever since we separated. Every now and then he'd brush himself against me like a cat, and I found myself leaning into his touch. I remembered Merle and thought about how Merle hesitated back there in the woods. The reason Merle didn't kill me was probably because he knew deep in his gut that I had a chance of finding his brother. Merle was tied down to a group; I wasn't, not really.

Rick explained to the group what Michonne and I had seen concerning Glenn and Maggie. He didn't mention Merle, because I didn't. Hershel managed to sit Michonne down to bandage her thigh up a bit; she was tensed and on-edge the entire time, as if she expected Hershel to kill her while he patched her up. I noticed how the rest of the group kept giving Michonne side glances.

Rick quickly got a patrol ready to go to Woodbury, to go get Glenn and Maggie back. He called Daryl and the man named Oscar. Then Rick turned to me and Michonne. "We need you two to lead the way back."

I exchanged a quick glance with Michonne. Rick frowned slightly at me when I moved a bit away to talk to Michonne. Once we were far enough away from the rest, I said, "We could end up getting Andrea back."

Michonne nodded. "I agree with going back. But I'm telling you now, if we do go back, I'm going after the Governor."

"What is it with you two?" I asked quietly.

"It happened after you left Woodbury." Michonne explained briefly. She didn't elaborate and I didn't ask, knowing perfectly well that my friend liked her business to be private. I looked back at Rick and the others and moved back to them; Michonne lagged behind.

"We're coming with you guys," I said. Rick glanced at Hershel and Daryl before nodding at me. "Woodbury has walls surrounding it, military-wannabes guarding them night and day. It's ran by a man who calls himself the Governor."

"He got muscle?" Daryl asked.

I shrugged. "Just military-wannabes like I said. The place is protected from Walkers, but we should be able to sneak ourselves in."

"How'd you know how to get here?" Rick asked.

Michonne answered this one. "They mentioned a prison, we saw which direction they came from, said it was a straight shot."

I nodded in agreement. "It was kind of easy, actually."

With that said, Rick ordered for the cars to be loaded with weapons and supplies. At the sight of the cars and how many people were going, Michonne got really tense. I fell into step beside her. "We're going to be fine with them, okay?"

"I don't trust them," Michonne said shortly.

"I know." I said. "You don't trust anybody."

"I trust you," Michonne shot back.

I blinked at her, caught off guard. "Then trust me when I tell you that we'll be fine with them." Michonne narrowed her eyes at me but nodded anyway. We moved closer to the car and got in the very far back of the car. Rick got the front seat, Daryl got the passenger, and Oscar took up the middle of the car. Every now and then, I'd catch Daryl glancing at me from the rearview mirror. And this time whenever I caught him, he didn't bother looking away.


	30. 30: Hand Grenade

The sun was setting by the time we reached Woodbury. We didn't park right beside the town, instead we parked a few miles north of town. We all climbed out of the car and I immediately unsheathed my hatchet, feeling uneasy about being so close to Woodbury again. Daryl noticed and got closer to me, standing just a few inches away from me.

I took the lead of the group, moving past Rick without really thinking about it. I led the way into the woods and we got closer to Woodbury. No one spoke the entire trip there; the only noise made was the sound of Oscar's feet crashing through the undergrowth. Michonne and I kept a good distance from the rest. It was more for Michonne's benefit than my own.

The sun slid below the horizon right before we approached the side gates of Woodbury. Michonne and Rick took the lead at the same time and led the rest of us behind a bus that had been flipped onto its side somehow. From where we were hiding, I could see familiar figures standing atop the structure. I quickly counted two of them and reported the number back to the others.

"Is there a time that they'd leave?" Rick asked.

I shook my head. "I don't think so. Unless there was a distraction big enough for everyone to go check it out."

Rick glanced quickly over at the wall and then back to the rest of us. Michonne glanced at me. "I'd be willing to cause a distraction."

I narrowed my eyes at her. But Rick denied her request for me. "The less spread out we get the better. We're here to grab Glenn and Maggie, and get out of here."

"We ain't separatin' again," Daryl said firmly. Although he said it to the group as a whole, he was looking at me when he said it. I met his eyes and held them there; I completely agreed with him on not separating. It had taken me almost eight months to find them. I wasn't keen on leaving them again. We turned to face the gates again, ending the conversation and beginning our watch.

There was a sudden snap behind us and we turned around quickly, aiming our weapons at the source of the noise. But it was just Michonne leaving the bus, gesturing that we should follow her. I followed her immediately, the men followed me more cautiously.

Michonne led us another way inside, through a window that ended up inside a building that looked like it was being used as a school house. Rick looked at me and Michonne, "D'you two have any idea where they could be keepin' them?" Michonne started mentioning a place where she found a bunch of Walkers.

Daryl peeked outside the window. "I thought y'all said there was a curfew." I moved over towards him and squeezed past him to look outside. People were moving through the streets with big smiles on their faces.

"If anyone comes in here, we're sitting ducks," Rick said grimly.

"They could be in the Governor's apartment," Michonne suggested.

"I thought you said you could help us," Rick snapped back at her.

Michonne glared wildly at him. "I'm doing the best I can!" There was a sudden knock at the door. Daryl grabbed me around the waist and pulled me down to the ground with him as everyone quickly hid. Daryl kept me pressed close to his chest, trying to make us as small as possible. I heard the door open and close right as footsteps started.

"I know you're in here," A voice said. "I saw you moving from outside. C'mon out; you're not supposed to be in here."

There was the sound of sudden movement and I heard Rick growl a threat to the man. Daryl and I scrambled up in time to see Rick bring the man to his knees. Daryl rushed over and zip-tied his hands together. Rick asked the man where Glenn and Maggie were.

"Rick, he's a civilian," I hissed. "He won't know a damn thing."

The man's eyes widened when he saw me. "You? You're the one Ross killed in the woods. He said he killed you right before you cut off his arm!"

"Then call me a ghost," I said. Rick stuffed a sock into the man's mouth and Daryl quickly knocked him out right before looking at me.

"You cut off someone's arm?" He asked.

"I got his elbow; I didn't know it'd come off." I said honestly. Daryl smirked in amusement at me, but it was short-lived. Gunfire started from outside. We all took one look at each other before rushing outside with weapons drawn. We headed down and alley towards some kind of warehouse where the gunfire had come from. We made it into a hallway where, on the other side, many men were ordering prisoners around and I heard Maggie's voice. I sheathed my hatchet and got my gun ready.

Rick unclipped a smoke grenade and threw it as the men brought our people out. The grenade went off with a loud bang and smoke filled the air. Rick, Daryl, and Oscar rushed forward to grab our friends as Michonne and I kept cover. The second Glenn and Maggie were with us, we tore out of the hallway.

Glenn had gotten the snot beaten out of him. Dried blood ran down his face and neck, and he was shirtless. It took a second for Glenn and Maggie to realize who saved them, but the moment they saw me, their eyes got wide and they threw themselves at me for a hug. I hugged them both back tightly, missing my friends.

"I can't believe you're alive," Maggie said happily.

"We'll throw a party when we get home, now let's go!" Daryl shouted. We ran back towards the gates but got cut off by guards. We quickly ducked inside a random building. Glenn sat down, terribly injured. Then Maggie asked where "that woman" went.

I looked all around, but Michonne wasn't among us. I felt a twinge of sadness; it looked like she had gone to go kill the Governor. Rick said that we had to leave, and that Michonne was now on her own. He stared at me as he said it, as if daring me to try and change his mind. But I knew Michonne; if anyone could make it out of here again, it was her.

"Daryl," Glenn said. "This was Merle." Glenn quickly explained who Merle was to the Governor. The entire time, Daryl stared at him, looking baffled. Then Glenn looked at Rick. "I'm sorry; we told them where the prison was. We couldn't hold out any longer."

"Don't apologize," Rick said. "We have to get out."

Daryl rushed over to Rick. "If Merle's around, I gotta see him."

"Not now; we're in hostile territory," Rick answered.

"He's my brother," Daryl said, looking as desperate as I ever saw him. "We could work somethin' out-"

"Daryl," Rick said sharply. "If this Governor catches up to us, I _need _you. If we find Merle, then we'll try, but right now we gotta get out of here."

Daryl hesitated before nodding slightly. We carefully got out of the building and started for the gates.


	31. 31: Made to Suffer

We moved alley to alley, trying to get back to the gates. And finally, when we found the gate we came from, Daryl threw another smoke grenade. Gunfire ensued. I took aim at a random guard and he fell off the walls. Oscar hurried to the wall with Glenn with Maggie covering them. Rick, Daryl, and I covered them in return.

Rick gave the order to take cover, and we ducked into a small alley. Daryl and I kept the way blocked. Daryl glanced at Rick before saying, "Y'all go ahead. I'll stay behind to cover y'all."

I shot him a glare and Maggie voiced my opinion completely. "No! We have to stay together!"

"I'll give you guys time to get out. We don't have time to argue." Daryl shot back. Rick hesitated before nodding, and Oscar took off with Glenn, Maggie and Rick. I stayed behind and glared at Daryl. He glared right back to me. "What the hell? Go with them!"

"I'm not getting separated from you again!" I shouted back at him. I headed out into the fray and started covering my friends. Daryl was forced to follow me and took up the position right next to me.

I could barely hear anything from over the sound of shots. I cursed as my ammo ran out. Daryl noticed immediately and glanced quickly at me. "You got more?"

"No," I put the empty gun in my holster and ducked down behind the small wall we were taking cover behind.

"Then leave," Daryl snapped as chips of stone flew over our heads. The Woodbury guards were trying to get the top of our heads, it looked like. "Get yourself out of here."

"What part of 'I'm not leaving you' do you not understand?" I asked him, coming out harsher than I meant it to.

Daryl cursed as his gun ran out of ammo. "We're both out. Now get your Yankee ass over that wall and out of here!" We looked over at the wall just in time to see Rick's boot go over it. I spotted Oscar's body laying on the ground, dead.

"Make a run for it?" I suggested. Daryl nodded, but right before we were able to move, a gun cocked right next to my ear.

"Well, look who's back," I recognized the voice of Martinez. Daryl cursed again. "Turn around slowly; both of you."

Daryl and I did as we were ordered, staying on our knees. Martinez and a few others were aiming guns at our heads. One of them, Shumpert I believe his name was, ordered us on our feet and pulled the zip ties Daryl had on him out of his pockets. He quickly zip tied our hands together and put bags over our heads, blinding the pair of us. Then we were lead away.

* * *

><p>We were taken to the same place Glenn and Maggie had been held. The guards separated us into different rooms, but I could hear them hurting Daryl in the next room. He was fighting back it sounded like. I sat, leaning against the thin wall, listening to Daryl and Martinez screaming insults at each other as Martinez tried to get information out of Daryl. It sounded like the only thing they got out of him was that Merle and Daryl were related.<p>

Suddenly, the sounds of more guards entering Daryl's room made me sit up straighter. I heard them drag unwilling feet away from the room, and suddenly, there was pure silence. I stood up, my hands still zip tied together. My hands were turning purple from the lack of blood flow. "Hey!" I shouted, kicking the wall. I stalked over to the door and kicked that too.

Where was Daryl? Did they kill him? The thought of Daryl lying dead in the next room terrified me. "Daryl!" I screamed, kicking at the door again. "Answer me, Hick!"

Dead silence echoed around in my ears.

A panicky flutter went through my chest and I felt myself growing more terrified for him. They wouldn't kill him-would they? I pounded my feet against the door, accidentally knocking myself off balance and almost causing me to fall to the ground. I landed hard on my knees. I looked down at my bound hands and a sudden memory came to mind.

My dad had been a survival expert. He watched too many episodes of Criminal Minds and Law and Order: SVU, so he made sure that my entire family would be prepared for anything, including a kidnapping. My hands were bound in front of me...

I took the extra line of the zip tie between my teeth and tightened it as much as I could. The little block of plastic squeezed its way between my wrists. My hands turned completely purple from the pain. Carefully, I lined up my elbows with my hip bones and raised my arms slowly. Then, with all the arm strength I had, I slammed my elbows down against my hip bones.

A loud snap filled the room as the zip ties broke. I rubbed my wrists and hips, knowing I'll have bruises in both places later. I went back to the door and tried to open it. But of course it was locked. I was about to try and kick the door again when I heard voices coming my way. I grabbed a shard of wood that looked like it had been broken earlier and got into a defensive position right behind the door.

It opened and for a second, no one came out. Then Ross's face appeared around the corner-

I rammed the wooden shard forward and plunged it into Ross's neck. He tried to scream, but the wooden shard went right through his throat, killing all noise. He fell to the ground with it sticking out of his throat. Blood started to pool around his head. I stepped over the body and, after taking Ross's gun and hunting knife, left the room to look for Daryl.

The thought that I just killed a living person didn't enter my mind until I made it to the exit of the building. I stopped walking and looked back at Ross's dying frame. Slowly, I walked back over to him, where he was still alive and suffering. I kneeled down beside his head and his eyes rolled until they found me. He opened his mouth, trying to say something, but there was blood spilling out of it. I saw where his right arm ended in a stump at the elbow; another piece of my handiwork. I didn't feel any tears coming, but I did feel guilt slamming into me like a truck.

Ross had been a bad person, but he didn't deserve to die like this.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly. I held the barrel of his gun against his head and he closed his eyes right before i pulled the trigger, ending his suffering.


	32. 32: Exit Wounds

There was a crowd of people right outside the building I was. As carefully as possible, I opened the door and slipped out, blending into the crowd of Woodbury people. I kept Ross's gun in my hand, pressed against my hip. His knife was tucked into my boot. I heard the Governor shouting from the center of the crowd. I moved slowly towards the sound of his voice.

I made it to the front of the crowd and I froze when I saw the Governor (now with white gauze covering his right eye) facing both Merle and Daryl. "Fight to the death!" The Governor shouted. The crowd screamed with agreement. I hid in the shadow of the clearing, feeling terrified for the Dixon brothers. Merle and Daryl were staring at each other, taking each other in. I remembered that this was the first time they'd seen each other since Atlanta.

The Governor backed away a few steps from the brothers. There was a brief moment in which nothing happened, the crowd kept screaming for them to start tearing at each other. I kept the gun hidden behind my thigh, not allowing anyone to see it. Suddenly, Merle swung at Daryl, knocking his younger brother to the ground. I gasped and my grip tightened on the gun. Merle kicked Daryl in the stomach.

I was about to pull the gun out on Merle and the rest of all of Woodbury when some of the guards brought out Walkers from the sides of the arena. I stared with wide eyes at the scene unfolding in front of me. This was madness.

Merle was tripped by Daryl and he toppled down to his knees beside his brother. For barely a second they sat in the dust, but then Merle stood right back up, bringing Daryl up with him. Merle and Daryl stood back to back, facing the Walkers. Every time a Walker got too close, one of them would punch them straight in the rotting face. I gritted my teeth, willing for both of them to make it out of this alive.

Daryl swung at a Walker and he somehow caught my eye. I glanced between him and the Walker right next to him. Daryl jerked his head once. I raised the gun and aimed at the Walker. With a tiny squeeze of the trigger, I shot the monster dead.

Screams erupted around the arena. I shot another of the Walkers to the ground, this time saving Merle. I charged out towards them, removing the knife from my boot. "Yankee!" Daryl shouted. I passed the knife to him and he slayed another Walker. The guard named Shumpert aimed Daryl's crossbow at me, but I quickly shot him in the leg right before he let an arrow loose. Shumpert fell to the ground and Daryl got his crossbow back.

More shots came from out of nowhere. I spotted my hatchet on the hip of the girl guard-I forgot her name. She tried to charge at me with it, but I ducked under her outstretched arms and kicked her hard in the knee. She fell to the ground and I yanked the hatchet from her grip. Daryl shouted at me and I chased after him, catching up in time. He grasped my hand tightly and the three of us headed for the exit.

Rick and Maggie appeared from the corner of a building. "Daryl!" Rick snapped. Daryl and I weaved around towards him, Merle having no choice but to follow. Rick and Maggie took the lead back towards the wall. Daryl still had an iron grip on my hand. When we reached the wall, Merle clobbered his way through and charged out. We dashed after him, the larger man moving faster than I thought he would.

The sun had started to rise when we reached where the car was parker. Glenn was sitting beside it, and I was very surprised to see Michonne there. Her face looked cut pretty badly, but other than that she seemed fine. Glenn looked up as we approached and started to charge at Merle with a gun the second he saw him.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Glenn asked, aiming the gun at Merle's head. Rick got between them, raising his hands at Glenn. Michonne unsheathed her sword and tried to get at Merle as well, but Daryl dropped my hand to step between them.

"He tried to kill us!" Michonne screamed. "Terry and me, he would've killed us the second he had the chance!" Daryl risked a glance at me for confirmation. I didn't say anything, silently answering his question.

Merle was sort of hidden behind Rick and Daryl. "'Ey we both took our licks, hon."

"Jackass," Daryl snorted.

"Shut up!" Merle shot back. Glenn tried to get Daryl out of the way by pointing the gun at him. I instinctively pointed my gun at Glenn as Daryl shouted at him. Merle laughed. "You've gone native, brother."

Daryl rounded on his brother. "What about you, hangin' out with that psycho back there?"

"I'll admit, he's a charmer." Merle said. He glanced between Michonne and me. "He's been stickin' his wood at your pal, Andrea." Michonne looked outraged.

"Andrea's in Woodbury?" Glenn asked.

"Right next to the Governor," I said bitterly.

Rick looked between me and Michonne. "How does she know Andrea?"

"Michonne saved the both of us last winter right after the farm." I said.

Merle laughed cruelly. "Look at this. This is pathetic! All guns and no bullets."

"Shut up!" Daryl snapped.

"Shut up yourselves, you of pussies-" Merle started to rage but Rick knocked him out with a swift blow to the head. Merle fell to the ground. I put my gun back in the waistband of my jeans. The hatchet was back on my hip where it belonged.

As Merle began to come back, we walked back to the road. Michonne stayed at the edge of the group, glaring at everyone who got too close. Daryl said to Rick that he wanted Merle to come back with us to the prison. I shot him a look, not knowing how I felt about Merle coming into the prison to live with us. Rick sighed, trying to reason with Daryl. "He could cause problems." Rick tried to reason.

Daryl glared at him. "He's my brother. I ain't leavin' him behind _again_!"

"You know as well as I do how your brother acts," Rick said.

"He's still my brother."

Glenn glared with deep dislike at where Merle was leaning against a tree. "I'm not letting that piece of shit back to the prison."

"Hey," Daryl snapped, rounding on Glenn. Maggie acted instinctively and got between Daryl and Glenn. I took a step forward and started to push Daryl away, pushing against his chest. Daryl looked down at me for a long time before looking back at Rick. Daryl grabbed my hand and put it down by his side. Then he dropped it right before saying, "If Merle doesn't come, than I ain't going back."

Everyone stared at Daryl with wide eyes. I felt as though someone had punched a hole in my chest. Glenn gaped at him. "I didn't mean that I wanted you to leave!"

Daryl glared at everyone present, but I noticed he was purposely avoiding my gaze. "If Merle can't stay, then I ain't stayin'!" Daryl snapped. I stared at him, not wanting what I was hearing to be true. He still wasn't looking at me.

Rick stepped forward. "Are you sure 'bout this?"

Daryl hesitated for a slight second, but he said, "Yeah," And with that he started to move away from the group. I looked at Rick, feeling helpless. I tore my gaze away from Rick and hurried after Daryl, stopping him before he could leave the road.

"You're not seriously doing this, right?" I asked.

Daryl blinked at me. "Yeah. Merle's my brother, and I can't let him go off on his own." He paused. "You stay with the rest of them. Keep them in order."

"You taught me how to track," I pointed out. "I can catch up to you and bring both of you back."

"We won't leave any trail." Daryl said firmly. "And if you did catch us, what makes you think you'd be able to bring us back?"

I blinked at him, feeling like it was hard to breathe. Daryl stared at me for a long moment. "I'm gonna miss you, Yank. Take care of them." With that, he turned his back on me and headed into the woods with his brother. I watched him leave, feeling that hole in my chest tear even wider and tears stinging the back of my eyes.


	33. 33: Lost

We arrived back at the prison about an hour after Daryl and Merle left. When we entered the prison, I felt the same protection I did when I first entered its high fences and walls, but it suddenly felt very empty. Michonne, understanding for the most part, stood near me and would nudge me gently every now and then. We stood together in the courtyard as Glenn and Maggie went inside. Rick looked over at me and Michonne, and I could see the struggle inside of him.

He wanted to tell Michonne to hit the road, and he wanted me to stay.

I looked at Michonne. "Let's get you patched up." I said, starting towards the prison. Michonne glanced cautiously at the prison before nodding in agreement with me. Once we were inside, Hershel moved over to Michonne to help. I looked around the small area of the prison; there were some small metal tables where people sat to eat, and an even small cooking area.

There were four strangers sitting in the small sitting area. Michonne stiffened at the sight of them; Hershel tried to get her to calm back down. I narrowed my eyes at the strangers, not trusting them. There was a larger black man who looked like a football player, a slight black woman who had a good resemblance to the football player, there was also a wiry man with a beard and a teenage boy who looked like him.

The black woman introduced herself as Sasha; her older brother was Tyreese and the father and son were Allen and Ben. I introduced myself and moved away from them. I wasn't sure about these new people, yet I was torn by the need of new bodies. The Governor could try and attack the prison. If he did, we needed more people to help defend us.

Carol looked sad when she heard the news of Daryl leaving us for Merle. I had narrowed my eyes at her when I saw her expression; I didn't know she and Daryl bonded while I was gone. A sting of jealousy hit me hard but it was diffused by immediate sadness when I reminded myself that Daryl was gone forever.

Rick entered the prison finally, after Beth and Axel warned him about the new people sitting inside. He looked at the strangers with a guarded expression, sizing them all up. Tyreese and Sasha straitened slightly, looking like they were trying to impress him with their obvious strength. Allen and Ben looked at him with narrowed eyes, not trusting him.

Rick nodded towards me and jerked his head for the prison door to the cell block. I followed him, leaving Michonne and the strangers behind. Michonne watched me leave with a guarded expression. Rick took the baby from Beth's arms and turned to me and Hershel.

"What d'you want to do with them?" Rick asked the two of us. I looked quickly over at Hershel, surprised that Rick wanted my opinion. Hershel said that he thought the people should be given a chance; maybe they could prove their worth. Then Rick looked at me.

I sighed. "I agree with Hershel. With the Governor looming over us, it wouldn't hurt to have a few extra bodies. Who knows, maybe they'll actually be useful members of the group." I didn't mention that we needed them now more than ever, ever since Daryl left.

Rick glanced down at baby Judith, as if asking her for her opinion. She made tiny baby noises that made my heart melt slightly. She coughed and started jerking her arms, and Beth swooped in to take care of her. Hershel left to go take care of Glenn's injured face. Rick started to move away, but I softly nudged his arm, signaling him to stay.

"Look, Rick," I started. "I know that you don't trust Michonne and you want her gone. But I do. She saved my life countless times during the winter, when honestly, she should've left me and Andrea behind." I paused. "She's just like you that way."

He blinked at me, taken aback by my brutal honestly. I jerked my head slightly. I continued, "No one's been saying it, and I hate saying it, but we need strong people after Daryl left. Michonne is strong. She may not be Daryl, but she's a killer with that sword, and I trust her with my life." With that, I walked through the gates and brought Michonne back into the cell block. She limped beside me as Rick watched like a hawk.

I brought her into a cell as Hershel did his final examination on her. My friend went out like a light, sleeping for the first time in days. Now it was time to deal with the strangers.

We all opened the doors and marched into the room where the four people had been waiting. They all stood up at the sight of us. I took a spot at Rick's shoulder and watched them with narrowed eyes. Rick spoke to them for a few minutes, asking them how they got in.

"Hershel said you could use some extra hands," Tyreese said. "We're no stranger to hard work. We could go out and get our own food, stay outta your hair. You got a problem with another group? We'll help with that too; anything to contribute."

Rick was silent for a moment before uttering the word no. I glanced sharply at him, frowning. Sasha started to beg him, only for Rick to repeat the word no, louder this time. He started shaking his head and somehow he looked up at the balcony and froze. "Rick?" I said softly. Rick had a sudden reaction to his name and paced towards the balcony.

"I can't help you!" Rick shouted at nothing. "Get out!" He drew his gun.

I turned to the new people as fast as I could. "You need to leave _now_." I said.

"Please," Sasha started. Rick started yelling even more. Glenn, Maggie, Carl, and I started to force them from the prion before Rick could hurt them. The others stopped at the gate to the courtyard, as I continued to escort them to the main gates. Ben looked terrified while his father looked furious.

"What's with your leader back there?" Allen asked cruelly. "I didn't think anyone would follow a mad man!"

"His wife just died," I said blankly. "Maybe you'd know how that feels." I had heard about how Allen's wife had died getting into the prison. Allen started at me with fury for bringing up his wife, but he said nothing. We made it to the gates and they walked through, looking hopeless and lost.

* * *

><p>The next day was spent trying to prepare for if the Governor attacked. Michonne was up on her feet and was in the prison yard, practicing with her sword. I stood in one of the guard towers, keeping watch. I didn't particularly miss this chore, but it was necessary for survival.<p>

Suddenly, I saw Rick run through the yard and out into the fenced in walkway. I frowned and watched him move around, confused. He left the walkway through the slit in the fence and moved all the way to a small bridge going over a stream. He stood in the middle of the bridge, barely moving.

I glanced down at Michonne, who looked just as confused as I felt. She looked up at me and shrugged. I shrugged back and looked away from her and Rick and back towards the tree line.

After about another hour of guard duty, I left the tower and went inside to find someone to take over. I walked in on Glenn hosting a war invasion. I listened in for a few minutes before staring in horror at Glenn's plan. Hershel saw me.

"Terry, you were on the road all winter, just like us." He said. "Did you ever find a stronghold like this one?"

I shook my head. "Not like this one,"

Glenn took one look at me and glared around at everyone. "Who's on watch?" He asked me sharply.

"I came to get a replacement," I fired back. We glared at each other for a second before Glenn stalked off to the guard towers. I watched him leave, noticing the sudden change in his behavior. He seemed more hostile, more willing to fight ever since he got back from Woodbury. Something had happened there, just like something had happened to Michonne.

After a while, Glenn and Carl went downstairs to clear out the tombs. I went back outside to patrol the area. Rick was still wandering around on the outside of the fence. I shook my head at him, not knowing what had gotten into him. Hershel came outside with me and limped over to stand beside me.

We stood in silence for a long moment before Hershel said anything. "I'll go check on Rick."

I nodded briefly. "I'll keep an eye out." We separated and went off to do our respective duties. As we separated, the entire group came outside to move around. Although everyone loved the prison's security, it was suffocating in there the air was so stiff.

I had just passed the first gates towards the guard tower when I heard a gunshot and a scream behind me. I hit the deck and turned around over my shoulder to see that Axel had fallen to the ground, shot dead. Bullets started flying from the tree line, where the Governor's trucks and Jeeps were emerging from the woods. I cursed loudly and started to Army crawl my way to a god position to fire back. The gun I had swiped from Russ was once more on my hip.

My group started to return fire as I got into the perfect position to fire back. I took aim and fired, hitting one guy right in the head. I tried not to let that fact bother me as I ducked behind an overturned table.

My mind suddenly thought of Rick and I looked over the top of my table to see Rick taking down some Walkers. The beasts were being attracted to the gunfire. I tried to take aim at the Walkers to help Rick, but a bullet struck the metal table right underneath my arm, burning my left wrist. I gritted my teeth and turned my ain back towards the people of Woodbury.

A truck drove forward unexpectedly and rammed down the main gates. I stared in horror at it as Walkers were released from the truck. They started to move all around the wide open field. Two people left the truck. Without thinking about their lives in the slightest, I pointed the gun at them and shot both of them dead. I remembered that Hershel was still in that field and I started to inch forward towards the field.

The people of Woodbury started to retreat. Michonne ducked out of her hiding spot and started to kill Walkers to save Hershel. I shot at the retreating truck, but to no avail. Glenn quickly got into a truck and drove out to save Hershel. I unsheathed my hatchet and went to town on any Walker that got too close to me.

I had taken down five Walkers when I paused and looked over to where Rick was. And then I saw Daryl and Merle standing out there with him, all three of them panting from killing Walkers. A weird feeling filled me up as I stared at Daryl's form; to be honest, I had no clue how I felt to see him again. One part of me was through the roof, the other wanted to pummel him for leaving us in the first place. I heard my name being called and I rushed towards the source where Carol was trying to get me back inside the safety of the courtyard.


	34. 34: Building Tension

Rick, Merle, and Daryl made their way slowly back to the courtyard. I watched them approach with narrowed eyes, not knowing how to fully react to Daryl reappearance. What had happened to not coming back? Not that I was mad at him for coming back, but there was definitely a spark of anger for him leaving me in the first place.

They finally reached the rest of the group, and people stiffened at the sight of the older Dixon brother being here. Michonne locked eyes with him and she gripped her katana tightly. I shot her a look trying to make her not do anything she would regret. Merle smirked a tad, but I glared deeply at him and he turned his smirk into a scowl.

Daryl looked over at me. I locked eyes with him and held his gaze, not blinking. Daryl took a tentative step forward, testing the waters. I narrowed my eyes at him, still refusing to break eye contact or back down. He moved closer and I turned away from him, deciding to let my angry side win. I moved towards the prison, going back inside the cooler air. As I walked away, I could feel Daryl's hot gaze watching me leave.

I knew I was going to have to confront him sooner or later, but I chose later.

I stayed inside until the rest of the group entered. Everyone wanted to take action immediately, but what sort of action was the big question. Some people wanted to leave while others wanted to stay. Merle, kept outside of the cell block via the gate, kept laughing at every suggestion that didn't end in violence.

"We ain't scared of that prick," Daryl hissed at his brother.

"You should be." Merle fired back. I watched him; he seemed deadly serious. "By now, the Governor's got eyes on every road leading out of here. Hell, he could starve you out if he wanted."

I exchanged a glance with Beth at these words. Beth held onto Judith a little tighter. Maggie made an angry remark of putting Merle into the other cell block. Daryl's eyes flashed dangerously at her in response. I looked over to Maggie, "Never thought I'd say this, but Merle's got a point."

Maggie turned from me to face Merle. "This is all you! You started this!"

"What's the difference who's fault it is?" Beth asked. "What d'we do?"

"I said we should leave," Hershel said darkly, staring up at Rick. "And now Axel's dead. We can't just sit here." Rick stared at Hershel for a second before turning his back on him and starting to walk away. Hershel moved suddenly, grabbing his crutches so that he could stand. "Get back here!" He screamed, livid at Rick. Hershel limped over to Rick. "You're slippin', Rick. We've all seen it and we all understand why. You once said that this wasn't a democracy; now you have to own up to that. I put my family's life in _your _hands. So get your head clear, and do something."

When the group dispersed again, I headed for the closest guard tower, to keep watch. As I walked, I heard footsteps following me. When I turned around to see who it was, I found myself freezing slightly at the sight of Daryl. He didn't stop walking and continued until he was at my side.

"What're you doing?" I asked him roughly.

"Keepin' watch with you,"

"Did you ever think that I don't _want _you to help me keep watch?"

Daryl set his jaw tightly. "What the hell's with you?"

This time I stopped and glared at Daryl with anger. "Are you seriously asking me that? In case you forgot, _you _left _me_. I was back for maybe an hour before you ran off with Merle. Excuse me for actually caring enough to feel pissed off."

My voice had gotten louder as I had gone on, and it had attracted some watchers. Daryl and I glared at each other for a long moment before I stalked away from him and back to the guard tower to keep watch. I half expected to hear his footsteps following me, but I didn't. And even though I was mad at him, I still felt disappointed that he didn't.

* * *

><p>I remained on watch until Maggie came to take over. I went back inside the gloom of the prison, the cool of inside almost blending in with the cool of outside. It was getting colder outside, and that meant less food. And here we were starting a new fight.<p>

Merle had just finished duct taping a blade onto his steel arm stump. I stopped and stared at it for a moment before he looked up and saw me. Merle smiled broadly at me. "Ah, Yankee! I was wonderin' when you'd come out of hidin'."

"I'm not hiding," I said shortly, walking over to him. I sat down inside of his cell with him.

"Yellin' in his face and then stormin' off for a few hours?" Merle asked, making the blood rush to my face. "Sorry, Yank; but that's hidin'."

"Well than, I'm hiding," I said shortly, not in the mood to ignore him. We sat in silence for a long moment, just sitting there. Then Merle sighed loudly.

"Not that your silence isn't music to my ears, Yank," Merle said. "But why'd you stop by my lonely cell, if not to talk about my brother?"

I shrugged. "No clue. Probably because of your sparkly personality though." Merle snorted at me right as Carl jumped into the room, shouting that Andrea was walking up tot he gates. Merle and I gave each other a look before grabbing weapons and following the others outside. Daryl caught a glimpse of me and Merle sitting in his cell together, and the sight was enough to make him stop and frown.

Rick led the way outside, everyone loaded with guns. Merle and I took up a defensive position behind the light green car. Andrea made it to the gate, holding a Walker with a rod. I saw that the Walker's arms and jaw had been cut off.

"Are you alone?" Rick shouted.

"Open the gates!" Andrea shot back.

"Are you alone?!"

"Rick!"

The gates were open, but Rick got to her and took the Walker from her hand. Before Andrea could comprehend what was happening, Rick had pushed her against the chain link fence and was searching her pockets and bag. Daryl, Merle, and I kept guard, making sure none of the Governor's friends decided to stop by. Andrea caught sight of me and froze, staring with wide eyes at me. And then she saw Michonne and she somehow deflated at the sight of the two of us.

We brought Andrea inside after Rick decided that she was clean. I ended up standing beside the Dixon brothers. Merle stood between me and Daryl, but he didn't seem to care. Daryl on the other hand, kept giving me side glances through narrowed eyes. I only knew this was because I returned those side glances. Rick caught Andrea up on everyone who didn't make it.

Andrea tried to move forward to hug Rick, but he took some steps back. Andrea froze and looked awkward.

"You all live here?" She asked, hoping to diffuse the tension.

"Yep. We had that yard until your boyfriend came and tore our fences down with a truck. Then he shot us down." Rick said bitterly.

Andrea blinked. "He said that you shot first."

"He lied," I said coolly. "He killed one of the prisoners that lived here with us."

"We liked him; he was one of us." Daryl added with a nod at me. Andrea covered her face with her hands briefly before looking around at everyone.

Glenn glared Andrea down. "We've taken too much shit for too long. If the Governor wants a war, then he's got one." Andrea's eyes widened at this and she once again tried to go over to Rick. But her former leader turned his back on her and stalked into the cell block. Andrea made a move to follow, but Daryl blocked her way faster than she could move.


	35. 35: Ignite

Andrea went outside with Michonne to walk around the prison grounds. On one hand, I wasn't sure if this was a good idea, considering that Andrea was openly with the Governor now. But maybe Andrea would change her mind, see the Governor for who he really was and come back to me and Michonne, back to her family and friends. Carl said something similar almost the second Andrea left with Michonne, but Glenn shot that idea down really fast.

"She won't," Glenn said bitterly. "She'll have the chance and she won't."

Carl narrowed his eyes at Glenn but said nothing. Merle snorted and returned to his private cell. Daryl watched him go, his eyes narrowed. Then he turned his eyes towards me and held my gaze for a long moment. I tried to hold it right back, but found that for the first time, I couldn't. I turned away from him and moved away, back towards the cell block. I heard Daryl groan from behind me, but he didn't bother chasing after me.

Andrea came back inside about thirty minutes later, her face tear stained. I moved into a cell on the second tier and started to organize the cell as best as I could. Carol was standing on the outside of my cell, taking care of baby Judith. "Andrea!" Carol called out as Andrea entered the cell block. "You can't leave without meeting little Ass-Kicker."

Andrea laughed as her footsteps sounded on the tier stairs. I stayed in my cell, neither of them knowing I was in here. Andrea said, "I assume Daryl named her that." Carol confirmed this and Andrea continued after a brief hesitation. "How is he doing, with Terry, I mean?"

"What d'you mean?" Carol asked. I felt my heart beat a little faster, but I stayed hidden in the cell.

"Well, this winter whenever Terry said that she wanted to find you guys, I'd mention Daryl." Andrea said. "And every time I mentioned him, her face would turn bright red and she'd quickly say that it wasn't just him she was trying to get back to. I know girl talk enough to know that he was the main reason she wanted to come back."

Carol didn't say anything for a lengthy pause. And then, "I don't know how they're doing. Honestly, I haven't seen them talking enough to know how they're doing. Every time they're together, one of them is frustrated with the other."

I had had enough. I stepped out of the cell, silencing their conversation. I glanced between the two of them as their faces blanched. "Carol, did Axel ever mention a library? I really need some books."

Carol blinked, "I think he mentioned it being in B Block."

"Thanks," I said briefly before heading back down the tier stairs. Carol and Andrea didn't resume their gossip until I was out of earshot.

I went back into the main living area and went up the indoor guard tower. Merle and Daryl were sitting in Merle's private cell, talking about who knows what. I ignored the pair of them and started to shift through the piles of papers and files. After a while, I found a map of the prison and it told me where B Block was. It looked to be another block over; I'd be able to get through without having to face the tombs.

With my map in my pocket and my hatchet in hand, I left the living area without a word to anyone. Merle and Daryl watched me leave with narrowed eyes, but they didn't say anything to find out where I was going.

When I arrived at B Block, I wasn't surprised to see that this block was trashed. I moved around the block carefully, trying to see if any Walkers were nearby. There were some, but they were all inside of their cells. I thought about Axel and Oscar and felt a small stab of grief. I moved past the full cells and into another area of B Block.

The library was a straight shot from there. I browsed the library, looking over all the books the prison had to offer. There were a lot of the classics like _Gone with the Wind _and _Catcher in the Rye_. I took _Band of Brothers _from the shelf and flipped through the pages before setting it back on the shelf. The prison's library was small, dirty and dusty, and had many books missing. But so far, it was the closest thing I had to normal in the prison.

* * *

><p>I was on guard duty again. The night sky was almost completely black with clouds covering the stars and moon. The tree line was completely black. I kept my eyes peeled, trying to strain them against the overall darkness. Andrea had left hours ago with an apparent mission from Carol to kill the Governor. I glanced out in the direction of Woodbury. Maybe, just maybe, Andrea would be able to actually kill her boyfriend.<p>

The door to the guard tower opened and I turned to see who it was. My body tensed up immediately when I saw that it was Daryl. He watched me carefully as I turned back around to face the tree line for any sign of movement. The back of my neck started to burn as Daryl's gaze continued to pierce it.

Daryl was soon at my side, close enough to touch. I felt torn almost immediately; I wanted him to either back up so that we weren't touching, or get even closer and not stop. "How's it lookin'?" He asked in that gruff voice of his.

"It's quiet," I responded. "What's it like inside the prison?"

"Merle pissed off a few people; it ain't nothing new,"

I accidentally let out a small huff of amusement. Daryl gave me a pointed look and smirked slightly. "You're not mad anymore?"

This statement sent all of those old emotions right back to me. "I'm still mad at you."

He hissed softly. "Damn. It's been like a week now, Yank."

"And? I spent all winter trying to find you guys, trying to find you." I said. "And right after I find you, right after you and I find each other, you _left_."

"He's my brother," Daryl said shortly. "I couldn't just leave him." _And yet you left me_, I thought but didn't say.

Daryl was standing close enough to be lightly brushing against me. It reminded of back when we spent every day together at Hershel's farm. Now we hardly stayed in the same room together any longer than we had to. What had happened to us?

He huffed loudly. "Look Yank, I know you're pissed. You got every right to be. I guess what I'm tryin' to say is that..." His voice drifted off for a moment. "Is that I miss ya, Yan-Terry. And if you need space, than come to me when you're ready."

Daryl started to walk away, his hands gliding slightly on the table top. Without thinking, I reached out and grabbed his jacket sleeve. I held the fabric tightly in my hand; Daryl stopped moving completely and was now looking at me expectedly.

"Please stop leaving," I said quietly, not even one hundred percent sure what I was saying. Daryl moved closer to me until his chest was brushing against my shoulder. I looked up at him and into his eyes. Daryl's bright blue eyes met my darker eyes evenly and I suddenly felt his hand brushing up on my jawline. I reached up without thinking and grabbed onto one of his broad shoulders, feeling the strength that was there.

Daryl and I both leaned into each other as one. My forehead pressed against his, and our noses barely grazed each other. I opened my eyes and looked at him. "I don't want to be alone again." I whispered. Almost as soon as I was finished saying that, Daryl pressed his mouth against mine.

How had I gone this long without kissing Daryl Dixon? One of his hands was pulling at my waist, trying to get me even closer; the other hand was tangled in my hair, keeping my head in place. As my mouth opened, allowing Daryl to fully kiss me, I felt a fire rage inside of my gut. As Daryl and I got even more tangled with one another, every nerve on my body seemed to wake up, igniting for what felt like the first time.


End file.
